Taken
by kailey12
Summary: Melinda is warned that she and Jim are in danger. But will they be able to stop it or will it be too late? Will Melinda be taken or will Jim be able to save her? If she is taken will Jim be able to find her in time?
1. The dream

Melinda and Jim have been happily married for 3 years now . . . Everything was going great in their lives. Mel's antique shore was thriving to the point that she was finally considering Andrea's proposal of expanding the store. Jim on the other hand was still working as both a paramedic and a firefighter while attending school to accomplish his dreams of finally becoming a doctor. And to top it all off they had recently found out that Mel was about three months pregnant!! They were soooo happy . . .

Until someone changed everything . . .

Mel had just woken up, she stretched and smiled when her arm was blocked by a figure beside her. Jim was still sleeping next to her. Mel looked at the time and noticed that she still had time before she had to go to work. She smiled and snuggled up close to her husband. She softly laid her head on his chest and drifted off into a peaceful sleep or so she thought.

_She was alone in a building she had never seen before. She had no idea where she was or why she was there. She started to look around when she noticed she couldn't move, her hands were tied behind her back and that was tied to a hook in the ground. She was tied up like an animal. She frantically tried to get herself free but it was useless. _

_That's when she heard what sounded like footsteps walking her direction. She tried to hide but couldn't get far since she was tied up. The door to the room she was in opened and in stepped a man . . . she couldn't make out anything about the man other then that he was tall and looked very muscular. _

_The man looked pissed . . . he walked up to her and slapped her across the face and just laughed when he saw the blood trickle down her chin. "Hello Melinda . . . now I told you to stop trying to escape. If you wish to be untied then you know what you must do. You must be my wife . . . forget about Jim. He is a worthless jerk who doesn't love you anymore!"_

"_Yes he does and I love him" Melinda whimpered. _

_The man looked even more furious then before . . . he kicked her hard in the stomach then beat her. While he was hitting her he sneered "If Jim really loved you, then where is he?? Huh? If he really loved you like you say then he would have found you already . . . its been three weeks and Jim is no where in site!! He probably never even started looking for you!" _

_Melinda slowly looked up at the man . . . "He is still looking for me . . . he won't give up until he knows I am safe and back in his arms!!" _

_The man had had enough . . . he reached down and grabbed Mel by the throat and lifted her up so she was looking him straight in the eyes even though he was a good foot taller then she was. "That's it . . . if you wont love me then I'll make you! I will find Jim and bring him back here to you and you will watch him die!!!"_

_He then threw Melinda back on the ground and stormed out . . ._

"JJJJIIIIIIMMMMM!!! Melinda sat straight up, "JJIIIMMMM, JIM, JIM!!!!"

Suddenly she felt two muscular arms wrap around her, Melinda thought it was the man and screamed again. "JIM HELP ME!!"

"Hey, hey … shh Mel I'm right here . . . its ok babe I got you . . . I'm right here." Jim said trying to calm her down.

Melinda spun around to make sure it really was him then she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Hey babe what's up? What happened?" Jim asked as he held her tightly.

"I was in a strange place and was tied up. I couldn't get out no matter how hard I tried. Then a man came in and slapped me across the face and told me I had to love him. I told him that I loved you." Melinda lifted her head off of his chest and looked into his eyes. A tear slowly rolled down her cheek as she continued, "He got really mad and beat me then said that you were never coming to save me. I told him you would and he said fine then he would find you and bring you to me so I could watch him kill you."

Jim instantly pulled her back into another hug, only this time he held her tighter then the first time and tried to comfort her, "Hey listen it was only a dream . . . right?"

"That's the thing it didn't feel like a dream, it felt more like a vision. It felt like someone was trying to warn me." Mel sighed as another tear trickled down her cheek.

Jim pulled out of the hug and took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, "Shhh, nothing's going to happen to you. Mel I promise you, nothing will happen."

"But what if it does?''

"Then I will find you. I will continue to look for you until I find you. Mel I will never give up."

Melinda looked deeply into his eyes. "I know . . ."

"Hey . . .'' Jim slowly pulled her into a soft and tender kiss.

Mel sighed deeply and deepened the kiss.

Jim then pulled her back into another hug and they stayed like that for quite some time. Mel knew that Jim would never stop looking for her but it still scared her. Why would someone take her? Why would they want to hurt her or her family? Will Jim be able to find her in time or would he be hurt in the process? All of these things were running through her head and it scared her.

Jim noticed that Mel was starting to calm down "Hey you hungry?"

"Yeah, actually I am." Mel smiled at him.

"Ok any requests?"

Mel thought for a minute then smiled, "Surprise me!"

Jim laughed, "K babe, why don't you take a shower then meet me down stairs k?"

"Ok, I'll meet you down there." Mel said as she got up off the bed and made her way to the shower. Jim gently stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulled her into another deep kiss, leaving Mel breathless but smiling.

"I love you," Jim whispered.

"I love you too" Mel whispered as she kissed him one more time before heading to the shower.

Jim smiled as he watched her walk into the shower then he made his way downstairs to prepare breakfast. After her shower Mel quickly got dressed and made her way downstairs. She smiled as she walked into the kitchen and smelled the sweet aroma of French toast and bacon.

"Mmmm smells good"

"Hey you, how was your shower?" Jim asked as he walked over to her and gave her yet another kiss.

"It was good, I feel a little better." Mel smiled as they pulled out of their kiss.

"Good! Now go sit down and I'll finish making breakfast."

Mel smiled then went and sat down. Within minutes Jim brought in two plates of food, and sat down next to her so they could eat.

While they were enjoying their meal Jim couldn't help but ask, "So do you want to talk about what happened earlier?"

Mel just looked at him . . .

"Mel what exactly does it mean? You said you were taken and you didn't know where you were. Did you see who the man was?"

Mel sighed, she knew Jim was going to want to talk about this and she knew that she needed to talk about it but she still didn't want to. Jim could see she was stalling so he decided to give her a little push, "Mel I think we really need to talk about this."

"Yeah I think we do too, ok no, I did not see the man's face, even when he was choking me and brought me right up to his face I still couldn't see what he looked like. All I could see what that he was tall and muscular."

"Wait, he choked you? Mel didn't tell me about this earlier."

"I know, I didn't want you to worry."

"Mel I would rather know everything and have all the worry in the world, then not know something and find out when it was too late."

Another tear had found its way down Melinda's face, Jim was so protective and he loved her so much, and she loved him. "I'm sorry I know you want to know, I just don't want to hurt you by telling you everything."

"Mel, baby you hurt me by not telling me everything."

"I'm sorry, you're right, ok, yes before he told me he was going to go find you, he pulled me off the ground by my neck and lifted me off the ground so I was looking him in the eyes. Then he threw me back onto the ground. Then stormed out of the room to go look for you." Mel said as yet another tear rolled down her face.

Jim sighed and stood up. He gently pulled her up too and wrapped her in yet another hug. They simply stood there in their kitchen holding each other, neither one wanting to let go. After a while Jim slowly spoke into Melinda's ear, "Mel I need to know everything about this dream, about the place you were at, about the guy. Give me whatever details you can give me. I promise you I won't let anything happen to you but if by chance something does happen, I need every detail of everything so I can find you as soon as I can."

Mel sighed into his chest, he always knew how to make her feel better. Even if he was saying something bad might happen, she still felt calm and safe when she was around him, and especially when she was in his arms. She knew he was right that in order to be found as soon as possible then Jim would need every detail. Slowly she released him from a hug and looked into those blue eyes that she loved so much. "K what do you want to know?"

"Anything and everything babe."

"Alright, I was in what seemed to be a basement because when I woke up the floor was made out of cement. My hands were tied behind my back with a chain that was bolted into the ground so there was absolutely no way for me to escape. Also when the man walked in he had to come down a flight of stairs."

"Ok babe you're doing great. What else do you remember?"

"The guy was tall, maybe 6'2" and very masculine. He was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. Umm . . . I'm not really sure if I remember anything else." Melinda looked down, she hadn't really given him any helpful information. "I'm sorry."

"Hey babe there is nothing to be sorry about. You did great, if that's all you remember then that will have to do. But promise me something . . ."

"Anything …"

"That if you have another dream, you will come to me immediately and tell me everything you remember." Jim winked at her which made her smile, "deal?"

"Deal"

"Alright, so what do we want to do today on our day off?"

Melinda thought for a second then smiled. "Lets go for a romantic walk, then maybe go to a movie, then after come home and relax just the two of us!"

"Sounds great! But do you really wanna relax?" Jim asked while he gave her the _I was thinking of doing something else _look?

Melinda simply grinned, "Well … what did you have in mind?"

And with that Mel let out a small scream as Jim instantly scooped her up in his arms and started to kiss her passionately. "I can show you right now if you would like?"

"Oh I would love that very much." Jim slowly made his way up to their bedroom with Mel in his arms.


	2. Listen carefully

Jim and Melinda spent the next couple hours in complete bliss. They were so in love that being together was easy for them. It simply came natural to them. After coming down from their highs, Jim wrapped Mel in a hug and sweetly whispered in her ear, "God I love you Mel . . ."

Melinda slowly turned towards him and kissed him deeply then smiled, "I love you too."

Jim smiled back then both decided to take a nap before their day together.

_Melinda found herself in another dream only this time she wasn't in the basement, this time she was in the back of a van. She was again tied up, much in the same way as before only this time she wasn't tied to the floor . . . at least not yet. She looked up and tried to call for help but realized that she had tape over her mouth so she was unable to speak at all. She tried to look around and see if there was anything in the back of the van that could help her find out who was taking her. _

_Sadly though when she started to look around she accidentally bumped into a pile of aluminum cans on the floor, which caused the driver of the van to jump slightly. He looked back and sneered at her. "Damn-it!!" he cursed. He hadn't expected her to wake up. He decided to act quickly since he didn't want her to be able to tell where she was or where he was taking her. So he immediately stopped the van and got out. Melinda was confused and terrified all at the same time. She knew she didn't have much time so she quickly looked around at all she could. There wasn't much in van; the only thing that she saw that might be of some help was a uniform that said Hendrick's Steel Company. Then the back door of the van opened. _

"_Hello Melinda . . ." he sneered, " now my dear you're not supposed to be up yet. Let me take care of that for you . . ." He quickly struck her across the face knocking her out cold. _

Melinda bolted upright in bed only to find herself already in Jim's arms. She turned to look at him and realizeed that she is out of breath, covered in sweat and probably has a panicked look on her face.

"Hey, what happened?" Jim asked as he lovingly rubbed her back.

"I . . . I had another vision . . . only this time I wasn't in the basement. I . . . I think he just took me because this time I was in the back of the van. When he noticed that I woke up he pulled the van over . . . and came back to . . . to where I was." Mel said as a tear began to roll down her face.

Jim gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs, "what happened Mel?" Jim was extremely worried. "Did he do something to you? Mel did he touch you? Did he hurt you?"

"He told me that I shouldn't be awake yet and then he . . . he . . . he hit me across the face and knocked me out." Mel stuttered out while tears began to fall freely.

Jim instantly embraced her in a hug and lovingly held her while she cried. He gently began to rub her back again in an attempt to calm her down. Slowly Mel began to calm down and pulled out of the hug to look him in the eyes. She still had tears in her eyes and on her cheeks, Jim gently wiped away the tears.

"Jim . . ."

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared . . ."

"Me too babe, me too."

"I saw something."

"Wait, what do you mean you saw something? Is something here?" Jim was confused, "or do you mean you saw something in your dream."

Mel smiled, "in my dream, I saw something. When he got out of the van I knew he was coming back to me so I quickly looked around at everything to see if I could find a clue, and I saw a uniform. On it there was a name. Hendrick's Steel Company."

"Wait . . . what is that? Have you ever heard of that company before?" Jim asked still unsure of how all of this tied together but one thing he was sure of was that something was coming and it was his job to keep Mel safe. No matter what.

"No I've never heard of it before, I was hoping that you might of." Mel sighed. She was holding onto the little hope that Jim might know what the name on the shirt was but he didn't and now they were back at square one again.

"No Mel I've never heard of it. Hey where's your laptop? We'll look it up together." Jim asked as he got up from the bed to find the laptop.

"Its down stairs . . . you want me to come with you?" Mel asked simply to be nice, she didn't really want to get out of bed yet.

Jim noticed that she wasn't really ready to get out of bed, "No I'll go get it and bring it back up here."

"K it's on the coffee table by the couch . . . I think . . ." Mel giggled. She didn't really remember where she put it.

"I'll be right back then." Jim said as he walked out the door.

Jim made his way down the stairs and straight to the couch . . . no computer. So he checked the kitchen . . . no computer. Next was the dining room table . . . no computer. "Where could she have left it?" Suddenly he realized that she must have left it in her car. So he grabbed her keys and made his way outside.

Meanwhile Melinda was waiting patiently for her husband to return. "What is taking him so long?" she thought. "He probably cant find it . . . I put it right by the – oh man I forgot . . . I left it in the car. Woops . . .well I hope he realizes that before he tears the whole house apart."

Suddenly a young woman appeared in front of Melinda

"Who are you?!" Melinda asked obviously startled

"That's not important right now, what is important is that you are in grave danger. He's after you and wont stop until he has you. It is important to listen to everything he tells you to do. He will only allow you to be in denial for so long, after a while he will become agitated with your lack of cooperation and will begin to take it out on you. If beating you doesn't work and you still refuse then he will simply no longer have a need for you and you will suffer the same fate as me. Please don't be foolish, no one will be able to find you or save you from him, he is too careful for that. My job is to save your life and show you proof that no one will be able to find you. Please listen to my warning. Don't try to be brave, just do as he says." And with that she was gone.


	3. Love

Hey guys sorry it took me so long to update…I actually just moved from California to Kansas (we drove) to go to college on a softball scholarship so I've been pretty swamped lately…I promise I will try to update soon but no promises. And I'm sorry nothing really happened in this one….

I hope you enjoy!!

_____________________________________________________________

Melinda sat in silence for some time trying to absorb what the young woman had just told her.

_He is after you and won't stop until he has you…._

_Listen to everything he tells you to do…_

_No one will be able to find you or save you…_

_Don't be brave, just do as he says…._

Her words echoed in her head.

Just then Jim walked in the bedroom door with her computer, he walked over to the bed and sank down on it.

"Wow that took forever, I searched the entire house until I realized that you must have left your computer in the car, it's a good thing I know you so well. Otherwise I would probably still be looking for it." Jim chuckled.

Melinda came out of her trance…"Hmm….oh yeah sorry I forgot I left it in the car."

Jim noticed something was up almost instantly, "_should I wait and see if she tells me herself or should I ask her what's wrong? She promised me that she would tell me when something happened….I'll give her some time, hopefully she tells me." _Jim wanted Mel to tell him for herself, he needed to know that she would keep her promise to him. "It's ok I was able to use my great detective skills to find it"

"Detective skills huh? Just how good are these detective skills of yours?" Melinda smirked, "Are you able to find anything?"

Jim couldn't help but smile, "of course I can find anything, what seems to be missing ma'am, maybe I could be of some assistance to you."

Jim slowly moved towards Melinda. He gently placed one of his hands on the back of her neck as he pulled her in for a kiss. Melinda deepened the kiss, while Jim slowly laid her down on the bed. Melinda was now on her back with Jim on top of her, they were kissing passionately. Jim sat up and looked her over… "God Mel you look gorgeous…"

Mel didn't say anything, she looked him over as well and stopped when she reached his eyes. She stared deeply into them wondering how many more times she would be able to look into his eyes and know she was home, she was where she belonged, she was safe. It scared her to think about losing all she had with him, losing all the love she shared with him, only to have it forced upon another man. She wondered how many more times she would be able to show Jim just how much she loved him…she knew that this could be the last time. She wanted to make sure that he really knew just how much she loved him.

She gently grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back down on top of her. She then slowly traced kisses along his jaw line from his lips to his ear where she lovingly whispered into his ear, "Jim I love you so much….I hope you know that."

Jim rolled off of her so that he was lying next to her, propping himself up on one elbow. "Of course I know Mel, I can see it in the way you look at me, baby…and I love you too more then words could even say."

This of course brought tears to Melinda's eyes, "Thank you…."

"For what babe?"

"For being you…for always being there for me. For showing me what it means to love someone." Melinda slowly wiped away a tear that had fallen. "Growing up I never thought I would find anyone who would love me, especially with what I could do, I knew that no one would love me for me. How could they, I was a freak." Slowly more and more tears began to fall.

Jim instantly wiped them away, "hey, listen to me…"he said as he cupped her cheek with his hand, "you are not a freak-"

"Wait let me finish, please…. I used to dream of someone who would love me. He was my one true love, the one I would spend my entire life looking for, but more then likely, never find. And then one day, there was a fire in the apartment next to me and this guy saved me, and for some reason he saw something in me." Melinda cupped Jim's cheek with her hand, "Just looking at you made my heart flutter, I had never felt such a connection. I knew I loved you from the first time I looked into your eyes. You were the one, you were and still are my one true love Jim. You are more then I ever dreamed of. You are always here for me, you love me when no one else does. You are the love of my life and I never want to lose you. I feel safe when I am wrapped up in your arms, I can feel how much you love me each time you kiss me, the way you look at me sends chills down my back. I love you with all of my heart."

Jim smiled and slowly reached down to kiss her, he had never kissed her so deeply before, when he pulled out it left both of them breathless. "Mel, you are not a freak, you are the love of my life. Loving you come easy for me because it is what I was meant to do. Baby, its like we were made for each other. You are my girl…I used to dream about you but never would have imagined I would ever actually find you. I love you with every beat of my heart and you never have to worry about losing me because I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here, to protect you, to love you, to simply be with you, no matter what. I love you Mel."

Melinda silently sobbed, she loved him so much and now she knew that he too loved her just as much. Melinda climbed on top of him so that she was straddling his waste. She cupped both sides of his face and brought herself down and kissed him passionately on the lips. "I love you" she whispered in between kisses.

"I love you too baby…now what is it you needed help finding?" Jim smirked as she continued to kiss him.

"I'm not sure…what would you like to find?" Melinda giggled.

Jim smiled up at her and winked while he slowly reached his hands underneath her lace top. "Oh I can think of a couple things."

Melinda giggled as she allowed Jim to take her lace cami off exposing her bare chest to him, "only if I get to play too." She smiled as she took off his shirt and traced kisses down his chest until she reached his boxers… "These are simply unacceptable!" she giggled as she slowly pulled down his pants.

Once Jim was completely stripped of all his clothes, he took his cue, "Now how is this fair Mel?" He traced circles down her chest, pausing every now and then to kiss her. Once he reached her panty line he grinned up at her and kissed her once more. While kissing he slowly pulled her panties down.

"I love you." Melinda moaned

"I love you too." Jim grinned

They made love like they had never done before. Both knowing that something was coming and that their time together could be short, they didn't want to waste it.

Afterwards Jim lay on his back while Mel snuggled up to him and rested her head on his chest. Jim instinctively draped his arm over her, in love and protection. She was his girl and nothing was going to hurt her, he would make sure of that.

Mel realized that she still hadn't told Jim about the young woman. _I don't want him to worry even more then he already is…_she thought…._telling him this will only make him fear for my safety more…but I promised him that I would tell him immediately the next time something happened….I have to tell him… what if something actually does happen to me…he needs to know everything…._

"Jim…"

"Yeah babe?"

"There's something I need to tell you…"


	4. surprise

Jim kissed the top of her head before he asked, "What's that babe?" _Oh good she's gonna tell me! _He thought.

"A ghost visited me while you were downstairs looking for the laptop."

"What ghost?" Jim asked with worry evident in his voice.

"A new ghost, I've never seen her before."

"Ok what did she look like? What did she say?" he asked calmly.

"That's what scares me…she looked like she had been beaten badly, her body was covered in bruises and cuts. She had blood all over her from her wounds and she looked extremely weak." Mel shivered in fear and Jim tightened his grip on her. He sat both of them up and moved so he was sitting behind her, he then wrapped her in a hug and sat there with her allowing her to talk.

"Tell me more babe…"

Melinda took a deep breath and continued, "She said that she was here to warn me because… h-he was coming for me and I didn't have much time left. She told me how he wouldn't stop until he had me and that he would… he would…b-beat me until I-I obeyed him, bu-but if I didn't obey soon…then he would k-ki-kill me…" More and more tears began to fall, it became harder and harder for Melinda to tell Jim about it, especially through her sobs. Jim simply hugged her tighter and whispered in her ear

"Hey shhh, babe I'm right here, nothing is going to happen to you, I promise, you are safe."

Melinda finally calmed down enough to continue on, "She told me how n-no-no one would be able to f-f-find me, or save me….she said that it was her job to-to sa-save me, and that I shouldn't b-be brave….. I should ju-just do as he says…." Mel slowly looked up at Jim as a tear rolled down her face, "Jim…I'm scared…" she whispered.

"I know you are babe, I am too, but listen to me…I will keep you safe. No matter what it takes, they will have to go through me in order to get to you." Jim swore to her, "I will keep you safe, Mel I promise!"

"That's what scares me…" Mel whispered.

Jim had a confused look on his face, "What scares you?"

"I don't want anything to happen to you, if you were to get hurt trying to protect me…" Mel looked down, "I don't think I would be able to handle it."

Jim moved so he was now sitting down in front of her, he gently put his hand on her chin and pulled her head back up so she was looking at him, "Mel, I would rather die a thousand times then to see you hurt once. If I were to know that something happened to you because I didn't protect you, I think I would fall apart inside. Mel I will protect you, if something happens to me, then I am ok with that as long as you are safe."

Mel simply stared into his blue eyes as a tear made its way down her cheek.

Jim wiped away, "Hey, I'm going to be ok, babe, we're going to be ok…nothing is going to happen."

"But what if it does?"

"Well then we'll be ready for it…and we'll fight it together."

Mel took a deep breath, he always knew the right words to say to make her feel better. "I love you"

"I love you too babe, now what do you say we get out of here and go for a walk?"

Melinda's face lit up, "please, I need to get my mind off of this."

Both Jim and Melinda got dressed quickly and were already out the door. They were walking hand in hand enjoying the scenery, Jim decided that now would be a perfect time for a surprise, _I need to get her mind off of this ghost for a while_ he thought, "Mel…"

"Yeah?"

"Close your eyes…"

Melinda looked up at him with a look of confusion, "why?"

"It's a surprise, please….for me?" Jim smirked, he knew that she never said no to his smirks.

Melinda hated it when he smirked at her like that, it made it impossible to say no. His eyes completely lit up but at the same time were almost puppy dog status, and his smile made her heart skip a beat…_he knows my weaknesses too well_ Melinda joked with herself

"Alright, just for you" Melinda joked with him as she closed her eyes.

"I promise you are going to love it!" Jim smiled as he scooped her up in his arms bridal style.

"Hey tiger, what are you doing?" Melinda laughed.

"I don't want you walking with your eyes closed, you could get hurt," Jim said sincerely with a hint of mockery in his voice.

Melinda smiled and hugged his neck, "My hero!" she joked.

It took Jim about 10 minutes to walk to where his surprise was. The two of them chatted about different things the entire way there.

"Jim, are we almost there?" Mel asked… she was becoming anxious to see what the surprise is.

Jim smiled, "actually…we're here!" He gently set her down so she was again standing next to him.

"So can I open my eyes?!" Melinda asked excitedly.

Jim laughed, "Yeah….open them."

Melinda slowly opened her eyes and what she saw took her breath away. Jim took her to the spot they found 3 years ago on their first walk together after moving here. Whenever they were having a hard day they would bring each other here and it relaxed them. It was absolutely beautiful as always, there was a pond in the middle of a huge grass field. Depending on the season the field would sometime be covered with all different types and colors of flowers, like it is now. The pond was always so clear and blue, it was the perfect spot to cool off on a hot summer day. Right next to the pond is a huge willow tree that gave just enough shade but not too much. Around the edge of the grass field there was a line of trees that enclosed the area, which was probably why no one knew of this place and its beauty. Being there always made them feel like they were the last two people in the world and that this was their place.

Melinda turned around smiling ear to ear, "Thank you for bringing me here!!"

"Wait I want to show you something," Jim smiled as he took her hand and led her around the pond and to the base of the willow tree. "Look…" He said as he pointed to a carving on the tree.

Melinda let go of his hand and walked closer to the tree so she could see what it said. It took her breath away when she saw it…carved into the trunk of the tree was a heart that said:

Jim and Melinda

A Love that is Unbreakable

Melinda couldn't believe what she saw, she turned around and looked at Jim with tears in her eyes, "Jim…I-I don't know what to say. I can't believe you did this, baby it must have taken you forever."

"It did take me some time but our love is worth it, no matter what's ahead for us…no matter what happens…I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that, and this is so everyone will know its true." Jim walked up so he was standing right in front of Melinda, "Mel, our love is something that everyone dreams of finding but few ever do. Our love is something that will never be broken, it will only get stronger."

Melinda couldn't believe what she heard, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She turned around to look at the tree again, then turned back towards Jim and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you so much, this means the world to me. I love you…" Mel whispered into his ear.

Jim threw her into a deep and passionate kiss, they were so involved in each other that they didn't notice a man walking up…


	5. Scary Encounter

The man was roughly 6'4" and very muscular, he clearly worked out. He staggered up to the pond with a gun in his hand, he hadn't noticed that anyone else was there; he thought it was just him. He collapsed to his knees on the edge of the water and began to sob.

Jim and Melinda broke away from their kiss, they couldn't see the man because he was on the other side of the tree, but they heard his sobbing.

"Do you hear that?" Mal whispered

"Yeah, I do actually…"

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know babe, wait here I'm going to check it out."

"No, I'm coming with you." Mel declared.

Jim simply smiled at her, "alright"

Jim and Melinda slowly made their way to tree and were about to look around it to see what or who was over there when the man started to speak…

"You bastard, how could you do this to me? I loved my wife with all of my heart and you took her from me! She was everything to me….and you beat her like she was nothing. Why did you do it?!! Huh? What was in it for you!!??"

Melinda and Jim looked at each other…

"Its because of you that I am like this! It's because of you that my heart is broken…" the man took a deep breath, "baby, I don't know if you can hear me but I love you. I knew from the first time that I saw you that I loved you. You were my life, I can't go on living in this world without you. I miss your smile, I miss making you laugh, I miss you. Baby I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. It's my fault your dead, if I would have found you sooner you might still be here with me. I failed you as a husband and I don't deserve to live." The man slowly lifted the gun to his temple, his hands shaking violently.

"Jim he's going to kill himself!! We have to do something!"

Jim immediately walked out from behind the tree and started to make his was over to the man…Mel followed closely behind.

"Hey man you alright?" _oh great Jim you know he's not alright, you couldn't of came up with anything better _Jim thought to himself.

The man looked towards them. He looked completely heartbroken, his eyes were puffy, red and swollen from crying so much and there were tearstains on his cheeks. His hair was a complete mess and it looked and smelled like he hadn't showered for about a week.

"Leave me alone" the man replied while he turned back to look at the lake.

"Hey let me help you," Jim replied.

"Please sir…let us help?" Mel begged.

The man was becoming quite agitated; he turned and looked at Jim. When his eyes met Jim's face his heart sank in his chest. "You!! How dare you come here!! What the hell do you want!! You've already taken EVERYTHING from me!! You have some nerve coming to me like this!!" the man then pointed his gun at Jim.

"Jim!!" Mel screamed.

Jim threw his hands up, "Whoa, hey what are you talking about?"

"Don't act innocent!!" the man spat. "You know what you did!! What the hell are you doing here?"

Jim was starting to get worried, this man was clearly pissed at him for something, but he didn't know what. "Look I'm extremely sorry for what happened to you, but-"

"Don't act like you care!! You know exactly what happened!!"

"Look my wife and I were just going for a walk, we're sorry to have bothered you, we'll leave you alone now." Jim suggested, hoping the man would drop his weapon.

"You're wife huh?? Maybe I should return the favor??" Just then the man turned his gun so it was now pointing towards Melinda, "Its only fair, right!"

Melinda gasped.

"Hey! We have done nothing to you, let us go and we'll be on our way and leave you alone." Jim didn't know what to do…he wanted to somehow get to Mel but was unsure if the man would shoot her if he were to move.

"I can't do that…" The man said.

"Jim?" Mel asked worried.

"Mel it's alright." Jim said trying to steady his voice.

Just then the man raised the gun towards Melinda's head.

"JIM!!" Melinda screamed as she closed her eyes, before she knew what happened Jim was in front of her…standing between the gun and her.

The man looked at Melinda and then at Jim just then an idea popped into his head, _Or maybe I can…hmm yes that might work…_he thought. "Oh I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry…" and with that the man turned and ran away.

Jim instantly wrapped Mel in a hug…both were completely shaken from the ordeal, Mel sobbing silently.

Mel pulled out of his embrace, "Jim what was that about? What was he talking about? Did you do something to him?"

Jim looked down at her, "No babe, I've never seen the man before, I think he must have mistaken me for someone else?"

"I thought he was going to shoot you…" Mel told him.

"I thought he was going to shoot you babe…"

Melinda wrapped Jim in another hug, "hey lets go home," she suggested

"Alright," Jim replied as he took her hand and they walked side by side home. Little did they know they were being followed…

The man never actually left, he hid behind the trees waiting for them to leave so he could follow them home.

"_How could he do this to me? And look at him so happy…so in love…well I'll change that. He hurt my wife…I'll hurt his. I'm going to hurt him like he hurt me…he will pay_" the man sneered. "_Now all I have to do is figure out where they live, then wait for him to leave and make my move!"_

Jim and Melinda finally made it home, "Hey babe, why don't you go sit down on the couch and relax, you look exhausted, I'll make us some tea and then I'll join you." Jim suggested.

"You're too good to me," Mel smiled up at him.

"You're worth it." Jim smiled as he kissed her then made his way into the kitchen.

Mel sat down on the couch and waited for Jim. He finally walked around the corner about 5 minutes later with 2 cups of tea in hand. He handed one to her then sat down next to her. Melinda snuggled up close to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Jim? Do you think that guy is the one from my visions? Do you think today is what the ghost was trying to warn me about?"

"I don't know babe, it could be what she was warning you against, but what about everything else you saw and said happened?"

"Yeah you're probably right," Mel sighed

"Hey what do you say we make some popcorn and watch a movie?" Jim suggested.

"Sounds great!" Mel exclaimed, she loved watching movies with him because he always made her feel so safe.

"K you pick the movie and I'll make the popcorn." Jim smiled as he got up and headed towards the kitchen.

Mel got up and headed towards their movie case. She decided to pick a scary movie. Jim walked in with a bowl of popcorn and sat on the couch while Mel put the movie in. She then sat down on the couch next to him.

"You picked a scary one huh?" Jim chuckled.

Mel was shocked, "How did you know?"

"Because whenever you pick a scary one you always snuggle closer to me." He grinned

"Oh…sorry," Mel said a little sad as she moved away from him

"Hey that's not what I meant," Jim said as he pulled her back next to him, "I love it when you snuggle closer to me, especially when you're scared. I love being the one you look to for protection so feel free to snuggle as close as you want."

Mel smiled up at him, "thanks!" she said as she laid her head on his chest, Jim wrapped his arm around her as the movie began.

Just outside the window the man was watching them, _"look at how happy they are…well not for long…I'll be back for you…"_ and with that the man got up and made his way home to plan his next move…


	6. Taken

The man returned to Jim and Melinda's house after about 2 hours, he parked his van a few houses down the street and waited for Jim to leave.

The movie had just finished; Jim looked at the time and realized how late it was. "It's already 10 o'clock? Wow." He looked down at Mel and realized that she had fallen asleep on him, she looked so peaceful that he didn't want to wake her. _She barely slept last night because of these nightmares, poor thing, she must be exhausted…I don't want to wake her but she'll probably be more comfortable in bed. _Jim pondered what to do, he could stay on the couch with her or he could wake her up and they could go to their bed. He decided that she'd be the most comfortable in bed, so he would have to wake her up.

He gently rubbed small circles on her back while he whispered in her ear, "Mel, babe wake up…" Melinda stirred a little bit, then yawned and looked up at him sleepily.

"hmm, is the movie over?" she asked still half asleep.

"Yeah babe its over," Jim chuckled, "come on, lets get you to bed." He said as he still lovingly rubbed her back.

"Ok," she said as she yawned again.

Both Melinda and Jim got ready for bed quickly then got into bed. Jim laid on his back and Melinda laid with her head on his chest.

"I love you," Melinda whispered already half asleep.

Jim put his arm around her, "I love you to babe. Now go to sleep…you need it." He whispered while he rubbed her back.

Both Melinda and Jim were sleeping peacefully after about 10 minutes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jim and Melinda were awakened by Jim's cell phone ringing.

"Oh no, I thought you were off tonight?" Melinda asked still groggy and not fully awake.

"I am, I don't know why they are calling me."

"What time is it?"

Jim looked at the clock on his phone before he answered it, "6 am…Clancy"

"_Hey Jim I know you are off but there is a huge apt fire that we cant get control of, we have our guys working on it but chief said to get everyone down here…I'm sorry man but we need everyone we got, can you come?" Bobby asked him._

"Where's the fire at?"

Suddenly Jim could hear a huge boom on the other end of the phone, "Bobby, hey Bobby what was that?" Jim asked

Melinda looked at Jim, "What's going on?"

"Bobby says there's a huge apartment fire, and from the sound of it I think the apartment just collapsed." Jim explained to Mel while he waited for Bobby to get back on the phone.

"_Jim the apartment just collapsed, there were still people in there along with our guys and the fire is spreading, we really need your help man."_

"Alright I'm on my way" Jim told him.

"_Thanks man, tell Melinda I said hi and sorry," Bobby said before he hung up the phone._

"Mel babe, I'm sorry, but I have to go," Jim apologized.

"I know," Melinda told him as he went into the closet to get dressed. He then walked out and headed for the door, but Melinda grabbed him and pulled him back towards the bed.

"I love you, and please be safe," she said before she kissed him.

Jim deepened the kiss then kissed her on the forehead, "I love you too baby, call me if you need anything, I'll have my phone on me the entire time, ok."

"Alright, call me when you're done." Melinda told him as he walked towards the door.

"I will, love you…" Jim said and with that he was gone.

The man had been waiting this entire time outside just noticed Jim leaving the house, _is he really going to make it this easy for me? _The man thought to himself. _I'll wait an hour or two, wait for her to wake up again then I'll make my move! _He sneered.

Jim stopped by the station to grab his stuff, where he met up with a couple of his coworkers who were also called in tonight and together they drove over to where the fire was. Jim drove, since his truck was the biggest. The four of them made it there in about 30 minutes since it was on the outside of town. When they finally made it there, the scene was a complete mess, there were cops, firefighters and medics all over the place trying to help the people injured in the collapse, or to find the people trapped inside or to try and control the scene. Jim and the 3 other guys didn't waste time they were immediately in the middle of everything trying their best to do their job.

Meanwhile back at home Melinda had just woken up, she looked at the time and noticed it was 8 o'clock. Melinda got up and put on her robe over her nightgown. She then made her way downstairs to get the paper and make herself some breakfast.

The man was still sitting outside waiting for Melinda to wake up so he could make his move when he noticed her front door open. Melinda had just walked outside to get the newspaper and then went back inside…

"Perfect," the man chuckled as he pulled his van up so it was right in front of Jim and Melinda's house. He then grabbed his gun and made his way to the front door.

Melinda was inside making herself some breakfast when suddenly she was over come with a feeling of nausea, she instantly ran upstairs and just made it to the bathroom in time. She hadn't had very much morning sickness with the pregnancy, if she did it was only once in a while.

Suddenly she heard something downstairs, she listened closely and realized that someone was trying to open her door. Thankfully she locked it when she returned from getting the newspaper. She waited anxiously hoping whoever it was would see that no one was home and would leave.

Melinda strained to hear anything but couldn't, the noise had stopped. Melinda sighed a sigh of relief, _it was no one, stop worrying yourself about nothing, they left and you're ok. _She told herself, but spoke too soon, suddenly she heard the door fly open. It sounded as if someone had kicked it in. She immediately ran to the side table next to her bed where her phone was and dialed Jim's number…

Meanwhile downstairs the man was searching everywhere for Melinda… "Melinda!! Where are you?? Come out and play with me!" he shouted. "Melinda, its not nice to hide from me."

Back upstairs Melinda was hiding in Jim's closet, "come on Jim, baby please pick up." She prayed.

Jim noticed that his phone was ringing and looked at the caller ID to see who it was. "Hey babe what's up?" he asked when he answered the phone.

"Jim, th-there's someone here." Melinda whispered, fear evident in her voice.

"Mel what are you talking about? Where are you?" Jim asked. He immediately forgot about everything else he was doing… all he cared about was getting to Melinda. He started to run to his truck.

"I'm at home, someone just broke in, I'm upstairs hiding in your closet…Jim I'm scared, please help me."

"Baby I'm on my way, hang on ok…"

"Where are you?" Melinda asked, she knew it wouldn't be long before the man found her.

"I'm about 45 minutes away but I'm driving as fast as I can, baby I'm coming for you…do you hear me."

"Melinda!! I know you're here somewhere!!" the man shouted from downstairs. "Are you hiding upstairs??"

"Jim I-I thin-k he's com-coming up the stair-s"

"Mel, you have to buy yourself some time, fight him off as best as you can. Baby I'm on my way—"

"Jim I don't think you're going make it on time" Melinda cried, she was so scared. She didn't know what to do and knew that once the man found her he was going to take her.

"Mel listen to me…"

"Jim he's coming up the stairs…Oh god what do I do?"

"Mel, I will find you! Do you understand me? If something happens I will not give up until I find you!!"

"I love you Jim…" Melinda sobbed.

"I love you too baby," Jim replied trying to hold back the tears.

The man was now up the stairs and making his way into the master bedroom, he slowly opened the door, "Oh Melinda?? Are you in here?"

Melinda shuttered in fear, Jim was still on the line with her and could hear the man through the phone. "Mel, baby, is he in our room?"

Melinda didn't answer though, it would give away her hiding spot, the man looked under the bed and in Melinda's closet. "Where could you be hiding my sweet?" He pondered.

Jim couldn't handle this, he was driving as fast as he could but knew he wasn't going to make it in time. "God why did I leave!! I should have been home with her, I should be there protecting her!! I can't lose her!!" He yelled as he slammed his hand onto the dashboard.

Back at the house Melinda was still hiding in the closet and the man was making his way around the bed and over to where she was hiding. Melinda was absolutely terrified, she knew it was only a matter of moments before he found her. She tried frantically to think of what to do…

Just then the man swung open the door and saw her, "There you are!!" he sneered, "Who are we talking to?? Is that Jim?" He asked as he grabbed her by the back of the head.

"JIM HELP ME PLEASE!! JIM HE'S GOT ME!!" Melinda desperately screamed as the man ripped the phone from her grasp.

"MEL!! MELINDA!! MELINDA!!"

"Why hello Jim, how does it feel?" The man asked.

"Who the hell are you? Where's my wife?"

"Oh she's right here, but I'm sorry, I'm going to have to take her."

"What the hell do you want?" Jim questioned

"I want you to pay, I want you to feel the same pain I felt, the pain you caused, I'm going to do to your wife the same thing you did to mine…maybe even more…you're going to suffer like I've suffered!"

"JIM PLEASE HELP ME!!" Melinda screamed.

"Shut up bitch!!" the man yelled at her as he ripped her head back and slapped her across the face. "I will tell you when you can talk!!"

Melinda let out a little moan, Jim could hear everything, "Leave your hands off of her!! I swear to God if you hurt her…"

"Oh don't you worry Jim I plan on hurting her…you can count on that!"

"You bastard!! Why the hell are you doing this?" Jim shouted! He was thoroughly enraged! He was shaking he was so angry.

"Because you took away the love of my life, you kidnapped her and then raped and beat her until she was too weak to live…You killed her"

"What?" Jim asked completely perplexed. "Look I've never met you before in my life. I never killed your wife…just let Melinda go…"

"LIAR!! You F*#&ing Liar!! How dare you…Own up Jim you, know you did it!!" The man was becoming more and more angry. He pulled Mel closer to him and to the phone so Jim could hear her crying. "Your wife here is going to pay for what you did…maybe after losing her, you will finally understand my pain!!"

Jim couldn't handle it anymore, he could hear that Melinda was in pain and needed him and he couldn't be there for her.

"I promise you Jim I will make sure your wife goes through everything that mine went through!!" The man sneered as he threw Mel on the ground…she let out a small scream as her head hit the floor.

"STOP IT!!" Jim screamed, "Take me instead!! Leave her out of this!! Take me!!"

"I cant do that Jim," the man chuckled, "Say goodbye to Mel Jim…you're may never going to see her again!" the man then slammed the phone against Mel's ear… "Say goodbye to lover boy!"

"Jim…" Melinda cried

"Mel, baby are you ok?"

"Jim I'm scared."

"I know babe, I love you, I'm going to find you, I promise!! I need you to fight ok! Don't give up, I'll find you but you have to stay strong ok…I love you, with all of my heart!!" Jim cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Jim I love you!!" The man then pulled the phone away.

"Goodbye Jim!!" He sneered!!

And with that he hung up the phone and threw it on the bed, he grabbed Melinda by her hair again and ripped her up. He harshly began to pull her towards the doorway. But Melinda fought back, once they reached the doorway she quickly on his foot. He instinctively let go of her hair, she took this chance to kick him in the balls and make a run for it, she made it to the bottom of the stairs and ran into the kitchen to grab her car keys. By the time she made it back to the front door the man was standing there, out of breath, waiting for her.

"That wasn't very nice Melinda." He stammered.

"Please just leave me alone," she whimpered

"I'm afraid I cant do that, now we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way, your choice."

Melinda turned to run back towards the kitchen and out the back door, but the man was too quick for her. She suddenly felt something push her from behind. The man had caught up to her and shoved her, knocking her into the kitchen table and then onto the floor. When she hit the table she knocked everything off of it and knocked one of the chairs over as well. Once on the ground he instantly got on top of her and straddled her. He then pulled out the duct tape he had been hiding.

"No, please, what did we do to you?" Melinda questioned.

"Its not what you did to me, its what your husband did!"

Melinda was fighting him frantically trying everyway she could to get away from him, but he was too strong for her. He duct taped her mouth shut and brought out some rope from his back pocket. He grabbed her forcefully by the shoulders and flipped her over so she was now laying on her stomach and tied her hands behind her back.

He then stood up and grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her up too… "Now we can't very well stay here, so lets go!!" he said as he pulled her towards the front door. But Melinda wasn't done fighting him, she ripped her arm away from him and tried to run again, this time he tackled her from behind and they landed on the couch, Melinda on the bottom and him on top. He had his knee in her back, and pushed her head hard into the cushion he then bent down slowly and traced circles on the side of her face with this tongue as he ran his hand up her shirt, before he whispered angrily her ear,

"Listen, I tried to do this the easy way but you've made that impossible, now we must do this the hard way, just know that you brought this on yourself, and also made things harder for you later on too…cooperation is key my dear without it and this is only going to be harder for you."

Melinda was sobbing the entire time. He had her completely trapped. She didn't know what else to do…All she wanted was to be back in Jim's arms…_why did Jim have to leave this morning?? Why couldn't he have been here with me?? Baby where are you?_

The man then pulled her up off the couch with more force then before and pulled the gun out of the back of his pants…

Melinda eyes widened when she saw it…she was completely terrified, was he going to kill her just like that?

The man let out a menacing laugh when he saw how terrified she was… "I thought this might get your attention," and with that he reached up and hit her hard across the face with the butt of the gun, instantly knocking her to the floor and unconscious. He hit her so hard that blood was already trickling out of the gash above her right eye leaving some on the carpet and hard wood floor.

"Damn look at what you've done, you've made a mess…oh well, we'll call it a little present for Jim!" the man grinned as he picked Melinda up and threw her over his shoulder. He carried her outside and threw her into the back of the van. He looked her over with a grin of approval, "We are going to have a lot of fun, just the two of us!! I'm going to enjoy this!" he chuckled as he locked the doors then jumped in and drove off…


	7. Too Late

"You bastard!!" Jim screamed. He instantly dialed 9-1-1…

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" the operator asked him

"Hello, someone just broke into my house!"

"Sir are you in the house now?"

"No my wife is home alone, she called me, the man grabbed her and told me he was taking her and going to hurt her…please you need to send someone over there as fast as you can."

"Sir are you sure your wife is in danger?" the operator asked.

"YES I'M SURE!!" Jim was thoroughly enraged, "YOU NEED TO GET SOMEONE OVER THERE NOW!! MY WIFE IS IN DANGER AND BEING HURT AS WE SPEAK!! SEND SOMEONE THERE NOW!!!" Jim screamed into the phone, this operator was really starting to piss him off.

"Sir I'm sorry we will try and get someone there as fast as we can but all of our men are at the huge apartment building collapse, we have no one left here."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO ONE LEFT??"

"I'm sorry sir, where do you live and I'll get someone there as fast as we can."

"It'll be too late by then!!" Jim said as a tear made its way down his face.

"I'm doing the best I can sir,"

"Well its not good enough!!" Jim gave her his information then hung up!!

He threw his phone down on the passenger seat and sped even faster down the road hoping to make it home in time to save Melinda.

"God why did I leave?!?! I should have told Bobby no!! I should have been there with her! I should have protected her…she told me something was going to happen!! I should have listened…I should have been more careful. Now I-I could lo-lose her forever!! I have to get to her!!"

Jim finally arrived home, the van was long gone by then. He pulled into the driveway, parked his truck immediately and jumped out of his truck and ran towards the front door, he didn't even bother closing the door to his truck…that didn't matter…all that mattered was getting to Melinda.

He ran up the steps and stopped at the front door, it had been left wide open. He cautiously entered the house…

"Melinda?" He yelled once he made it inside. Being a paramedic he knew not to touch or move anything, so he cautiously but hurriedly made his way around the house. "Melinda!!" He yelled even louder, he ran up the stairs and straight to their bedroom, He noticed that his closet door was open, he walked towards it and noticed clumps of hair on the floor…

_**Jim could picture the man holding her by the back of her head and slapping her hard across the face, he could see the man throwing her onto the ground and shoving the phone to her ear. He could see her crying as he talked to her and promised that he would find her. He could see her say I love you as the man ripped the phone from her hand. He could see how scared she must have been **_

A tear slowly made its way down his cheek as he stood there picturing everything he heard. He had to find her, he needed to hold her and tell her she was safe now…

He quickly made his way back down the stairs, once at the bottom he went into the kitchen, he noticed Melinda's car keys on the floor along with everything else that was once on the table. The chairs were knocked over and there was a spot on the floor that looked like something had been laying on it, because things were either smashed or moved out of the way…

_**Jim realized that Melinda must have fought back and the man caught up to her and threw her on the ground. Jim could picture her struggling to get away from this man and then him tackling her and forcing her to go with him.**_

More tears made their way down his face, he knew that she was fighting. "Keep fighting baby, I'm coming." He whispered to himself. He knew that she wouldn't give up. And he knew that he had to find her, no matter what he had to do, he had to find her and save her.

He left the kitchen and walked into the living room, he noticed that the blanket that was once draped over the back of the couch was all messed up and laying on the cushion of the couch…._Did he throw her down here too? _He wondered_…I don't get it why would he throw her down in the kitchen and in here? Unless she tried to make a run for it again?_ That's when Jim noticed it and instantly collapsed to the floor….

He bent down and looked at the amount of blood on the floor and carpet by the couch. "Oh god…Melinda" he whispered as more tears made their way down his cheeks. "I'm sorry baby…I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry I let you down…" Jim leaned his back against the couch and curled up and cried…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Melinda slowly opened her eyes, she couldn't remember what happened or where she was, all she knew was she had a splitting headache. She tried to reach her hand up to her head but realized that she couldn't, her hands were tied behind her back. Suddenly it all came back to her, _**Jim leaving for work, the man breaking in, her calling Jim, Jim telling her he was going to save her, the man finding her and yelling at Jim, him tackling her and tying her up, him promising to hurt her, the gun…and then everything goes black**_…she looked up and realized she was in the van and the man was driving.

Everything looked so familiar…she silently gasped when she realized why…she had dreamt all of this, this is exactly what she saw in her visions or nightmares. Everything was identical, the inside of the van, her hands being tied up, the man. A tear made its way down her face when she remembered what else she dreamed; the man beating her and leaving to find Jim so he could kill him. She had to make sure that didn't happen.

Melinda slowly tried to move around so she could get a better look at the van when she bumped into some cans lying on the floor. The man jumped in his seat and looked back to find Melinda awake. "Dimmit," he yelled as he pulled the van over to the side of the road, he then got out of his truck and made his way back to where Melinda was.

Melinda remembered what happened in her dream and tried to get away, she got up on her feet and walked away from the door and hid in the corner right behind the passenger seat. The man opened the back door and saw that she had moved.

"What are you doing?" He questioned, she could tell he was angry.

Melinda looked up at him with pleading eyes, she couldn't talk since her mouth was duct taped so all she could do was look at him. The man stepped inside the van and shut the door behind him. Melinda's eyes filled with tears as she watched him come closer to her.

He knelt down in front of her and took her head in his hands, Melinda jerked her head away from his grip. The man wouldn't have this, he reached up and slapped her hard across the face. "Don't move away from me… now listen to me Melinda, we're going to make quite a team you and me."

Melinda was still had her head down and was avoiding eye contact with him. He violently grabbed her by the side of the head and forced her to look at him. She had tears pouring down her face and blood dripping down her nose and over the duct tape. "We're going to have a lot of fun…just the two of us…I hope you're ready for it!" he smirked at her, "because by the time I'm done with you, you will be begging me to kill you…and I want you to remember that this is happening to you because of what your husband did. Its his fault you're here." The man was becoming more agitated simply by mentioning Jim, Melinda could tell because his grip on her face became much more forceful, and rough. "Everything that I do to you is because of him!!" The man spat at her, his face was now only inches away from hers, "Your husband is going to pay for what he did!! And he is going to pay through you!!"

And with that the man socked her hard across the face. Melinda felt a sharp pain in her cheek before everything went black. The man had knocked her out cold just like in her dream.

The man then climbed back into the drivers seat and was off again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jim couldn't get the images out of his head, there were so many different ways that he could have hurt her, and he was picturing all of them. But the one image he couldn't get out of his head was Melinda lying there, helpless and bleeding on the floor.

Suddenly there was a knock on the front door, Jim jumped.

"Grandview police!!" an officer yelled into the house, he hadn't seen Jim yet.

"I'm in here," Jim said as he stood up.

"What happened sir?" the officer asked as he walked in and noticed the destruction of the house.

Jim explained the whole story. He told them about leaving for work, and Mel calling him because someone broke in, then him rushing home, the man finding her and talking to him and promising that he was going to hurt her, then him finally making it home only to find the place completely destroyed. Jim showed them the bedroom, the kitchen and then the living room and the blood on the floor. He explained to them what happened in the bedroom and what he thinks happened in the kitchen and living room.

"Sir do you have a recent picture of your wife, so we can start a search for her?"

Jim looked at the officer, "Yeah I do, hang on I'll get it for you."

He walked upstairs to grab a picture of Mel, he paused when he was leaving and looked at their bed and was instantly thrown into a memory…

"_**hey babe…" Jim mumbled as he walked in, it had been a long day at work and all he wanted to do was get into bed. **_

"_**Oh hey" Melinda smiled seductively… "you look tired baby, want me to rub your shoulders?"**_

"_**Thanks but I think I'm just going to go to" Jim yawned as he spoke, "…bed." **_

"_**Oh ok," Melinda smiled as he climbed into bed and under the covers. She waited until he got comfortable and was situated in bed before she made her move. Once his eyes were closed she smiled devilishly at him and climbed on top of him.**_

_**Jim opened his eyes in surprise, he open his mouth to say something but couldn't…Melinda had already thrown him into a kiss. She broke free of the kiss and looked at him, "I love you" she whispered. **_

"_**I love you too babe," and with that Jim wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for another kiss, he slowly traced her bottom lip with his tongue begging her to let him in. Melinda granted him access and he kissed her passionately while he slipped his hands under her lace cami and pulled it up over her head…**_

_**Melinda moaned into the kiss and then pulled his shirt off…**_

"Mr. Clancy? Mr. Clancy? Sir?" Jim was pulled out of the memory by one of the police officers tapping him on the shoulder…"Sir?"

"She's pregnant…" Jim said as he looked down.

"Your wife is? How far along?" the officer questioned.

"About 3 months, we've been trying for about 5 months and finally got pregnant, please you have to find her and my baby." Jim looked at the officer with tears in his eyes, "Please."

"We have our best men downstairs looking for any clues as to where your wife was taken and who took her. We're going to do everything we can to find your wife and child, I promise you sir." The officer said as he put his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Thank you." Jim said as he handed the officer a picture of him and Melinda on the cruise ship.

"I get this picture out immediately, and hope that someone has seen her." The officer told Jim as he turned and made his way downstairs.

Jim sighed deeply and made his way downstairs as well. He then went outside and sat down on the steps of the porch and stared off into the distance with tear filled eyes. He was lost in thought and worried sick about Melinda. He could only imagine how scared she must be right now.


	8. The Basement



Melinda woke up only to find herself lying on a cement floor. Her mouth was still duct taped and her hands were still tied behind her back. She sat up slowly so she wouldn't make her ever-present headache worse and tried to stand up. She successfully made it to her feet but realized that she couldn't go very far because she was tied to the floor. A tear made its way down her face…so far every vision she had was coming true and they were identical. She knew there was going to come a time when the man would leave to find and hurt Jim…she couldn't let that happen. No matter what happened to her, she would make sure that Jim did not get hurt…

Melinda pulled and tugged at the rope trying to free herself. She frantically looked around the room for something that could help her get the rope off…she saw nothing that would help her. She was alone, in what looked like a basement or a dungeon. The floor and walls looked to be made of cement. It smelled as if something had died and there were no windows. The only light in the entire room was from a single light bulb which Melinda was thankful was on right now even though it wasn't very bright, it was better then nothing. There were old wooden stairs that led up to what she assumed was the 1st floor. From what she could tell the only way out of here was through that door. She was in the middle of the room, the rope that tied her hands was tied to a hook that was cemented to the ground. She continued to try and free herself but sighed in defeat when the rope was tied too tightly for her. She sat back down on the ground and began to cry…There was no way for her escape, she was trapped. She was shivering in both fear and from being cold. All she was wearing was her nightgown and her robe. She had no shoes on and was barely covered. She knew it was going to be hard but that she couldn't give up…she promised Jim she would fight. She had to find a way out of here.

She looked around the room again to see what else she could see…she noticed something strange to the right of her. Against the wall were 2 large poles that went from the floor to the ceiling and then about 10 feet in front of them were 2 more poles. They formed the four corners of a square. In between the front two poles there was a pole that ran perpendicular to them about 6 feet off the ground. She wondered what that was for and prayed that she wouldn't find out.

Suddenly she heard footsteps upstairs…she listened closely and realized that the footsteps were making their way to the door. She gasped in horror and tried of think of what she could do. Just then the door opened up and a ray of light entered the room, she couldn't make out who the man was, all she could see was the silhouette of his body. The man slowly made his way down the steps, it was like he was mocking her with each step. He would take a step and then very slowly take another step. She shuddered in fear… what was he going to do?? Who was he? She still hadn't seen his face, when he arrived at her house he was wearing a ski mask so no one would be able to tell who he was.

The man had finally reached the floor and was now walking towards Melinda. Melinda began to scoot away from him in terror, even though she was tied up she still tried to get as far away from the man as she could. The man found this amusing, "Where do you think you're going Melinda? You can't get very far?" he chuckled.

Melinda began to cry when she could no longer crawl any farther away…the man was getting closer to her and she was terrified to find out what he was going to do to her.

The man finally reached where she was and kneeled down to her level…that's when she finally saw his face!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



It had only been 6 hours since the man had taken Melinda but, to Jim, it felt like a lifetime. He still hadn't told anyone anything of what had happened except for the police. He had tried many times but simply couldn't bring himself to call anyone. Calling people made it seem all too real, he hoped that if he prolonged calling anyone then Melinda would walk through the door with her usual smile and sneak up on him and wrap him in her arms. God what he would do to be back in her arms again….another tear made its way down his face as he silently dialed Delia's number.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



_Oh my god!! _She thought to herself_. It's him!! The man from the lake!! The man who held Jim and I at gunpoint!! Oh my god!! What does he want with me?? _Melinda was shaking in fear, this man had already threatened to hurt her 3 times now and had held her at gunpoint. She knew he was out for revenge and that she was his way to get it. More and more tears made their way down her cheeks as the man spoke…

"Hello Melinda!! Remember me?" He questioned.

Melinda didn't say anything she just looked at him, shaking in fear.

"Answer me bitch!!" He growled as her slapped her across the face.

Melinda winced in pain and looked to the ground, she didn't want to look at him in the face. "I said answer me!!" He growled as he slammed her head into the cement floor. Melinda screamed out in pain. She still wouldn't look at him but nodded her head yes, while she sobbed and slowly sat up.

"I don't remember giving you permission to get up!" he sneered as he again threw pushed her head back down to the ground, this time even harder. Melinda could feel a steady stream of blood coming from the wound now in the side of her head. She remained laying on the ground like he told her.

"That's better," he grinned. "Do you remember what I promised you?"

Again Melinda kept her head looking down at the ground but nodded her head yes.

The man ripped her back into the sitting position as he put his hand on the inside of her leg, on her inner thigh, while be bent down and breathed heavily in her ear, "Do you remember what I said I would do to you?" He questioned.

Melinda tried to pull her leg away but the man easily held her down, "Do. You. Remember?" he questioned yet again as his hand slowly traveled higher up her leg and he began to kiss her neck.

Melinda whimpered and nodded her head yes yet again. She was so scared, she knew what was going to happen and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Great… lets get started then," he chuckled as he stood up and grabbed Melinda and forced her onto her feet as well. Melinda was completely limp though, she wasn't going to go with him. The man allowed her to fall to the ground but then kicked her square in the back, Melinda let out a muffled scream as pain exploded in the area he kicked her. "STAND UP!!" he demanded!!

Melinda refused to move, "F&%$ing bitch!! Stand up!!" he yelled as he again kicked her in the back. Melinda screamed out in complete agony but still wouldn't stand up. The men reached down and grabbed her by the throat and slowly pulled her up. He was completely cutting off her air supply, Melinda had to choice but to stand up. "When I f#$&ing tell you to do something you better do it!! Remember what we said about cooperation…You will learn to obey me!! You will DO AS I SAY!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!??" The man spat in her face. Melinda had tears pouring down her face, she tried to tell him she understood but couldn't speak since she still had duct tape on her mouth. The man laughed when he saw how much she was struggling to breath. Melinda was finally able to nod in agreement. "Good" he mused as he released his grip on her and allowed her to fall to the ground.

He then grabbed her by the arm and drug her to where he had her tied up and untied the rope.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



Delia was sitting at home watching her favorite show and was eating a light snack of apples dipped in caramel. Her phone began to ring, she looked to see who was calling and much to her surprise she saw Jim's name on the caller ID.

"Hey Jim!!" She answered merrily.

"Hey Delia…" Jim said trying to hold back the tears.

Delia instantly noticed something was not right, she could tell simply by Jim's voice…

"Jim? What is it?"

"Its Mel…." Jim said as a tear slowly made its way down his cheek.

_**Please review!!! I love to hear what you guys think! **_


	9. Explaining to Delia

_**Hey guys sorry it took me so long to update….school has been keeping me super busy. I know nothing has really happened in this chapter but I promise next chapter you will see more happening. I just didn't want you guys to have to wait even longer for a new chapter. This one is also kind of short and I think the next one will be longer but no promises…lol. **_

_**In this chapter you will notice Jim call Delia; Dee or Delia, just letting you know so you're not confused.**_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_**Previously on Taken…**_

"_**Hey Jim!!" She answered merrily.**_

"_**Hey Delia…" Jim said trying to hold back the tears. **_

_**Delia instantly noticed something was not right, she could tell simply by Jim's voice…**_

"_**Jim? What is it?"**_

"_**Its Mel…." Jim said as a tear slowly made its way down his cheek.**_

Delia sat up and turned off the TV… "Jim what about Mel? Is she ok? What's going on?"

"A man…umm, a man…came and he…he…" Jim couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Jim what happened? Where is Mel?" Delia asked fearing the answer he was going to give her.

"She's…she's…gone…" He whispered as he broke down and cried.

"What do you mean she's gone? Jim what's going on?" Delia was confused as to what was going on but she knew something was wrong. She had never witnessed Jim break down like this. It was breaking her heart.

"A man came into our house…and he…he….he took her. Delia she's been kidnapped."

"Jim, oh my god, I'm coming over right now. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

"Thanks Dee." Jim said before he hung up the phone and waited.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The man untied Melinda and stood up. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and drag her over to where the poles that Melinda noticed earlier.

Melinda was shaking with fear. She was absolutely terrified, she frantically looked around trying to find a way to escape but there was nothing that could help her. She was trapped with the man. He was gripping her arm so hard that Melinda was sure it was going to bruise but that was the least of her worries.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Delia made it to Jim and Melinda's house in 10 minutes like she promised. She noticed that both Jim and Melinda's cars were in the driveway, she immediately parked her car and ran to the front door.

Jim heard a knock and the door and knew it must be Delia. He got off the couch and went to the front door to let her in. As soon as he opened the door Delia was already in his arms. "Oh my god Jim, I'm so sorry."

Jim hugged her tightly and allowed his tears to fall freely. "Thanks Dee," He said as Delia pulled back and simply looked at him. What she saw broke her heart, Jim looked as if he had been crying for some time. His eyes were normally so full of life and love, were now only full of sorrow and sadness.

"Jim do you know who took her or how long ago it was?" Delia asked cautiously, she knew it would be hard for him to answer but she needed to know.

Jim slowly walked to the couch and sat down, he ran his hand through his hair before he spoke. "Two nights ago Melinda had a dream or vision I guess. She was in a basement. Her hands were, umm…tied behind her back and she was anchored to the floor. Delia she said she was tied up like some kind of animal…" The tears that Jim was trying to hold back were now falling freely, he put his head in his hands.

Delia sat down on the couch next to Jim and put her arm around him trying to comfort him. "What happened next?"

Jim slowly lifted his head, and took a deep breath before continuing, "She said a man came in and started beating her." Jim sighed.

"Did she see who the man was?"

"No, she said she couldn't tell."

"Did he say why he was hurting her or why he took her?"

A tear slowly escaped again as Jim continued on, "He said that she had to love him, that they belonged together and that I was never going to find her. She refused and told him that I loved her and was coming for her. He then choked her and then left her while he went to search for me, so he could kill me in front of her."

"Oh my God Jim what are you going to do?" Delia asked, she was extremely worried for both Jim and Mel.

"I'm going to find her, that's what I'm going to do." Jim said with much determination.

"Jim, I know you want to find her, we all do, but"

"But what Dee? A man broke into my house, told me that he was going to rape and beat my wife and then took her!! What am I supposed to do just sit around and hope someone will find her? I cant do that…not when I know she is alone, scared and probably hurting…no I have to find her." Jim sighed.

"Wait you talked to him?? Did you recognize his voice?" Delia asked.

Jim looked down as he answered, "No I didn't recognize his voice…"

"Ok but when did you talk to him?"

"Mel called me right after he broke in. She told me that a man had broken in and that she was scared, the man came into the bedroom and found her. I heard her scream as he took the phone from her. She was screaming for me to help her and I couldn't…Dee I should have been here."

"Jim there was no way you could have known."

"She tried to tell me…she was given warnings and I didn't listen."

"Jim you listen to her better then anyone else does…and Melinda knows that. She knows that you are looking for her and will never give up. She will fight, for you." Delia explained. "Is there anything that Melinda has told you about that might help you know where she is?" Delia asked

Jim thought about it for a moment. He couldn't think of anything that could help, Melinda hadn't really told him anything that would really help. "No, Mel told me all she could, but nothing will…..wait…." Jim suddenly remembered something. He jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs. He took the stairs two at a time. Once at the top he rushed into the bedroom and grabbed the laptop, then ran back down to where Delia was sitting and looking at him very confused. Jim sat down and opened the computer.

"Jim what are you doing…"

"She saw something in one of her dreams…Dee it might give us a clue as to where she is, maybe we can figure out who took her." Jim rambled out, while frantically typing into Google search.

"What did she see?" Delia was extremely confused as to what he was looking up.

"In one of her visions she was in the back of a van, she saw a workers shirt that said Hendrick's Steel Company…." Jim sighed as he continued to search. "Delia look at this…" Jim said. Delia scooted closer to him and looked at the computer.

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!**_


	10. Tears and Memories

_**Ok here is the next chapter I know it took me forever to write this one but I've been super busy with homework and school and softball, then I have been sick for the past week and sleeping the entire time…I also got a little bit of a writers block cause I knew what I wanted to write but it didn't seem to come out right. I think I finally got it though. Here it is…I made it longer since it took me so long to get it to you guys. Again I am so sorry that I made you wait so long. Hopefully it won't take me this long again but if it does know that I will post a new chapter eventually…I hope you guys like this chapter. **_

_**Please let me know what you think**_

_***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***_

The man violently threw Melinda on the floor in between the 4 poles. She hadn't noticed it before, but attached to each of the poles were chains with handcuffs at the end of them. The man then bent down over Melinda and untied her hands. He held her down while he grabbed one of the handcuffs. Melinda tried to pull her hand away from him but he wouldn't have that, he slapped her hard across the face. Melinda winced in pain, but she wasn't going to give up that easily, she continued to fight him. She kicked and hit him and tried frantically, anything she could that might free her.

"Sit still!" he growled at her.

The man managed to successfully handcuff one of her hands and was moving on to the next one. Melinda cheeks were stained with tears, because she had been crying so much and were now being covered with new ones. She was terrified to find out what he had planned. It didn't take him long to handcuff her other hand and both of her feet. Melinda was now sprawled out on the cement floor, with both of her hands handcuffed above her head and both of her feet were handcuffed too. She was handcuffed in a way where she looked like an "X" with both feet pulled apart along with both hands. She was trapped and had no way of defending herself.

The man stood up and smiled at his work, especially when he noticed how terrified Melinda looked. He then bent down over her and ripped the tape off of her mouth. Melinda gasped in pain.

She instantly began to scream for help, "HELP ME!! PLEASE!!! HELP ME!!! SOMEONE!! ANYBOD-" she was cut short by the man laughing. She looked at him perplexed.

"Melinda, do you really think that if anyone could hear you that I would have taken the tape off? Go ahead and yell as loud as you want but no one will be able to hear you. No one is going to be able to find you so you might as well save your breath." He chuckled.

"Pl-please…w-why are y-you doin-g thi-s-s-?" Melinda was now crying again. She knew he was probably telling the truth, that no one could hear her, which meant that no one was going to save her.

"I told you already, I'm doing this because of your husband."

"But Jim didn't do anything. He wouldn't!!" Melinda knew Jim didn't hurt that woman; if anything Jim would have been the man who was trying to save her, not hurt her.

The man was furious, "What the fuck do you mean?? Maybe I mistook him for someone else?? No I know who did it!! YOUR HUSBAND KILLED MY WIFE!!! AND I SWORE TO MYSELF THAT IF I EVER GOT THE CHANCE THAT I WOULD MAKE HIM FEEL THE PAIN THAT I DO!!" he sneered. "YOUR HUSBAND IS THE REASON I AM DOING THIS TOO YOU," He kicked Melinda hard in the ribs, and she screamed out in pain. "ANY PAIN YOU FEEL IS BECAUSE OF YOUR HUSBAND!! KNOW THAT WHATEVER I DO TO YOU IS WHAT YOUR HUSBAND DID TO MY WIFE!!"

"Jim didn't do anything!!" Melinda screamed. "I l-love my husband and-d I know that he-he would never hurt anyone!!" she stuttered between her tears.

The man kneeled down on the floor next to Melinda. He grabbed her by the throat and turned her head violently away from him. He slowly bent down so he was right next to her ear. "By the time I'm done with you, you will be in so much pain that you will hate your husband!" he sneered.

While gasping for air, Melinda turned her head so she was looking him right in the eyes, "Never…" she said with much pride and confidence. She knew that no matter what this man did to her that she would always love Jim. She knew that their love was stronger then anything else, his love would be what got her through.

"We'll see about that…." He whispered before pushing himself up even though his hand was still around her throat, thus grinding Melinda's head into the cement floor. "Now lets get started shall we?" the man snickered as he started to kick off the shoes he was wearing.

"What are you going to do to me?" Melinda whimpered. She was scared to death because she had pretty much figured it out already.

"I'm going to make you forget your husband." The man said seductively as he slowly lowered himself on to her.

He bent down and started to kiss her, Melinda tried to keep her mouth closed by clamping her teeth shut and thrashing her head back and forth trying to get away from him. But the man reached up and violently grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled it hard to steady her head. Melinda gasped in pain thus granting the man access. He began to kiss her deeply. It made Melinda want to gag. The idea of someone else kissing her other then Jim literally made her sick to her stomach. The man continued kissing her while he slowly put his hands under her nightgown and started to pull it over her head.

"No…please do-ont" Melinda begged as she desperately tried to move away from him. But she found it impossible, not with how he had her chained up. She was completely defenseless.

The man pulled her nightgown up and over her head; it was now stuck on her arms over her head. Melinda was completely naked except for her panties. The man kissed her deeply on the lips while his hands worked their way over every inch of her body.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed trying to sound brave, but much to her demise it sounded week and broken instead. He plunged deeper into her mouth while his hands made their way to the inside of her leg. He held onto her as he continued to kiss her deeply. He then began to make his way down her body, slowly trailing kisses as he went.

Melinda's body grimaced in disgust, every time he kissed her another tear would escape her eyes. "Pl-pl-please…s-s-sto-p"

"I can't, I told you, everything that happens to you is because of your husband." He chuckled as he made it to her breasts. He slowly licked a circle around one breast. Once he found her nipple he bit down hard, Melinda whimpered in pain and disgust. "Stop it!! Please….just stop!" Melinda yelled. Melinda pulled and yanked at the chains, trying anything she could to escape. The man simply laughed at her attempts, knowing there was no way for her to escape and that she was completely his.

He stopped and looked up at her, "Melinda….do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" He asked seductively. A tear slowly made it way down her cheek as she turned her head away from him. She silently cried to herself knowing there was no way to stop him from what he was about to do next.

He then sat up and looked her over, his eyes wandered down her body, starting at her face and working his way down to her breasts, her stomach and her panties. The then reached down and put his finger underneath her panties and pulled the top of them up so Melinda could feel him grabbing them, "These simply will not work," he said. He reached down with both hands and grabbed her panties, with one swift motion he ripped her panties off of her, literally tearing them in half. Melinda screamed, partially because it scared her and partially because she was now completely naked and exposed.

"There…that's better." He said to himself as he began to unbutton his pants. Melinda instantly looked away, she couldn't watch him. "Please…don't….please……..s-s-stop…………please?" she whispered. "please….please….please…."

The man now had his pants off as well and was standing over her in his boxers, "like I said before….I can't stop….your husband didn't stop, so neither am I" He then lowered himself on top of her once again. Melinda couldn't handle it. She screamed out in anger, "Fuck you!! Jim will find me and when he does you better watch out cause he is going to kill you!!"

"No one is going to find you!" he snickered as he bent down to kiss her.

Melinda looked him directly in the eyes, "Jim will!" She said with much pride and certainty.

The man laughed, "Jim will never find you. He doesn't know where you are or even where to start looking. By the time he finds you it will be too late!" He slowly began to trail kisses from her lips to her neck. He reached in between her legs again and began to finger Melinda. He slowly messaged her while still sucking endlessly at her neck. There was nothing Melinda could do but lay there and allow him to abuse her body any way he wanted. "I hate you!!" she cried.

"Good!" he snickered as he made it back up to her lips and threw himself into a deep kiss with Melinda, he then slipped his boxers off and threw himself into her. Melinda clamped her eyes shut…

_**Melinda found herself in a memory…**_

_**Melinda and Jim were enjoying their desert of pumpkin pie with whip cream on the top. Jim looked up at Mel and couldn't help but stare. **_

_**Melinda noticed he was staring at her and looked up at him. Their eyes met and locked on to each other. Both completely content with staying just like that all night. Jim slowly stood up and made his way over to Melinda, he reached out and gently grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. Their tongues danced enthusiastically inside each other's mouths. Jim pulled out of the kiss leaving Melinda completely breathless.**_

_**She looked up and smiled at him, "Wow," she said as she was slowly beginning to catch her breath. **_

_**Jim smiled as he then reached down and stole a little of her whip cream. **_

"_**Jim Clancy!! Did you just distract me with a kiss so you could steal my food?" Melinda asked.**_

_**Jim simply laughed and sat back down to his own food.**_

_**Melinda sat back in her chair and folded her arms while she glared at him. Jim played it off as if nothing had happened, "Yeah babe? You need anything?" He grinned.  
**_

"_**No, but you have a little whip cream on your cheek." She said innocently as she pointed to his cheek.  
**_

_**Jim reached up and tried to wipe it off, "Better?" he asked.**_

"_**No you missed it," she chuckled. She then reached onto her plate and pulled up a handful of whip cream and smeared them all over Jim's face. **_

_**Jim looked at her in complete shock. "Oh you're going to get it now!" he said as he jumped up and grabbed her around the waste as she tried to run from him. **_

_**Melinda was laughing hysterically as Jim sat back down in his seat and pulled Melinda down with him. He had her pinned on his lap as he looked at his plate.**_

_**Melinda looked back at him, "You wouldn't!!" she challenged him as she struggled to get away. **_

"_**Oh I would!" he grinned as he grabbed a handful of whip cream and smeared it all over her face. **_

_**Melinda couldn't help but laugh out loud. She managed to break free from his arms, she took the chance to smear more whip cream on him and then took off running. She only made it to the kitchen before she felt Jim's strong arms wrap around her waist. She gasped in surprise as he quickly spun her around so she was facing him. He looked deeply into her eyes as everything around them seemed to disappear; it was like they were the only two people in the world at that moment. **_

_**Melinda leaned in slowly for a kiss while still staring deeply into Jim's eyes, Jim also leaned in but pulled back right before they kissed, teasing her. He then lovingly reached up and wiped some whip cream off of her cheek and fed it to her. Melinda looked at him with pure desire in her eyes as she licked the whip cream off of his finger. Jim then leaned forward and pulled Melinda into a kiss. While kissing, he licked the whip cream off of her lips then begged her to let him in by slowly tracing her bottom lip with his tongue. **_

_**Melinda smiled as she pulled out of the kiss though. Jim looked at her and tried to kiss her again, but Melinda pulled back again. Jim tilted his head as he looked at her, confused as to what she had planned. Melinda then reached up and slowly wiped some whip cream off of him and copied his earlier motions and fed the whip cream to him, then pulled him into the kiss they were both dieing for. This time when Jim begged for access Melinda granted it to him willingly. **_

_**Jim then reached down and picked her up, Melinda wrapped her legs around him as they continued to kiss passionately. Jim set her down on the counter and began to lick the whip cream off of her neck, while kissing it passionately. Melinda giggled with pleasure as she ran her hands through his hair. She then pulled him back up to her lips and kissed him yet again. Melinda moaned into the kiss as Jim picked her up again, this time carrying her to their bedroom…**_

Melinda woke up in a dark room. She was still in the basement, the man was gone and she was no longer tied to the poles. He had moved her back to her original spot. Her hands were again tied up but this time in front of her body. Melinda just now noticed how cold it was in the room, she looked down at her body and realized that she was naked. Melinda instantly broke down in quiet sobs, she hoped that it hadn't really happened and that it was simply a nightmare, but her being naked was proof that it really did happen. Melinda sat up and curled herself up in a ball with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. She laid her head down and cried.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Delia instantly made her way over to where Jim was and looked at the computer screen. On the screen there was a picture of a man with a Hendrick's Steel Company workers uniform on. Delia didn't recognize the man from anywhere, "Jim do you know this man?" she asked completely perplexed.

Jim had tears in his eyes; this proved his suspicions he had earlier. Jim didn't know exactly who had taken Melinda but he had an idea. Earlier in the day when the man broke into their house and took Melinda Jim thought that his voice sounded familiar, and the threats he was using sounded like the man from the lake they had met the day before, but Jim prayed that it wasn't him. Seeing the picture on the screen broke Jim's heart because he now knew that it was him, it was the man from the lake.

Jim looked up at Delia, "No I don't know who he is but Melinda and I were at the lake yesterday and we ran into him. He pulled a gun on us and accused me of hurting his wife, then pointed the gun at Melinda, when I jumped in front of her, he got this really weird look on his face before apologizing and leaving. When I talked to him on the phone I thought that it might be him but I prayed that it wasn't. Now I know it was him." Jim looked back at the picture of the man.

"Jim, oh my god. He pulled a gun on you guys? What is he going to do to Melinda? What did he accuse you of doing to your wife?" Delia had so many questions running through her head.

Another tear escaped Jim's eyes as he remembered what the man promised him, "He thinks that I kidnapped, beat and raped his wife and he told me that he planned on making me feel his pain by doing to Melinda the exact things he thought I did to his wife, if not more." Jim choked back some tears before continuing, "Delia I have to find her."

"You will" She reassured him, "and Melinda knows you will."

Jim looked back at the screen and tried to learn as much information about this man as he could…

His name: Damon Williams

Age: 45 years old

Height: 6'2''

Race: White/Caucasian

Moved to Grandview: 15 years ago

Spouse: married to Riley Williams for 20 years, they were high school sweet hearts. Riley passed a year ago, they had no children.

Jim stood up and closed the lap top, "Come on Delia," he said as he made his way to the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To the police, they need to see this." Jim told her as he grabbed his keys and headed for his truck.

Delia followed close behind him and they made their way to the police station.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_**Please review!!!!!! I love to hear what you guys think!!!!!**_


	11. Confusion

**Hey guys, I know it has taken me forever to update and I'm so sorry! I've been super super busy!! I hope to update a lot sooner…I had a slight writers block but thought of a huge twist that I am loving!! So now I will be able to write more when I have time! Sorry again for taking so long! I hope you guys enjoy!! The huge twist is mentioned in this chapter and you will see how it goes in the next chapters!! Again sorry for taking forever!! I will try and update soon….please enjoy and let me know what you think….**

Melinda sat curled up in a ball on the floor shivering because it was so cold when suddenly she felt a presence. She looked all around her trying to find out where the ghost was when it suddenly appeared in front of her. It was the ghost that visited her in her room the other day.

"Melinda he's coming for you!" the ghost whispered frantically.

"You mean he's coming down here again?" Melinda feared as she looked over her shoulder at the door.

"No he's coming for you!!" the ghost declared again.

"What do you mean he's coming for me…he already has me!" she cried.

"No he doesn't….you don't understand yet but you will."

"Tell me what you mean, please. He already has me so how can he be coming for me?" Melinda was extremely confused and becoming agitated with this ghost. "I don't understand, the man you warned me against already has me."

The ghost looked down as a tear escaped her eyes, "No the man that took you is not the man I warned you about, the man who took you…is my husband."

"Your husband?? You're his wife!!" Melinda was shocked.

"Yes, and please believe me, my husband was never a violent man. He took my death extremely hard and blamed himself for it."

"He blamed himself but he is taking it out on me!" Melinda whispered, she didn't want the man to hear her. "He thinks my husband hurt you! I know he didn't!"

"You're right, your husband didn't hurt me. My husband is confused, the man who took me and hurt me looks a lot like your husband."

Relief filled Melinda, she knew that Jim would never hurt anyone.

"We need to get you out of here." The ghost declared.

"How? He has me chained up and no one knows where I am?" Melinda sighed

"You have to tell him I'm here and that he needs to let you go."

Melinda looked up at her, "He won't believe me."

"You have to try, the man who took me is coming for you. He knows that my husband took you and is furious! He is on his way now. I don't know how long until he gets here so you must hurry! You need to try and convince my husband to let you go!"

"What! What do you mean he is coming for me? Who is he?" Melinda was terrified, the ghost was extremely beaten and weak. The man showed absolutely no mercy towards her at all and it showed.

"The man who took me used to work for the same company as my husband…"

"Please….what happened to you?" Melinda begged, "I need to know what to expect…"

"After he took me, he took me to a place where no one would be able to find us. He kept me locked up in a basement that looked exactly like this," she paused and took a deep, "he raped me and beat me until he killed me. He wanted me to love him and be his wife but I refused, I loved my husband too much. He tried to convince me that my husband was never going to find me and that I should give in to the inevitable…I should have listened to him, then maybe I would still be alive. Once he killed me, he tipped the police off to where my body was and then fled, the police are still looking for him, but they won't find him."

Melinda was shaking in fear…She was terrified to be completely honest. Suddenly she heard footsteps, the man was on his way back down to where she was. She gasped as she looked back at the ghost, "Will he believe me?"

The ghost looked down at her feet, "Probably not but you have to try. My husband is your only hope right now."

"Alright I will try…" Melinda whispered as the door flew open and slammed against the wall, she winced in fear.

"Who the fuck are you talking to?" He yelled.

Melinda didn't answer, she just curled herself into a tighter ball and looked at the ground in front of her.

Damon walked down the stairs and straight up to her. He grabbed her by the hair and ripped her head back before he slapped her hard across the face. Melinda screamed out in pain as the man beat her mercilessly. He kicked her multiple times in the back and slammed her head into the cement floor. When he was finally done, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up off the ground, Melinda gasped in pain as he spat in her face. "WHEN I FUCKING ASK YOU AQUESTION YOU ANSWER ME!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?!" he yelled.

A tear rolled down Melinda's cheek as she gasped for air and clawed desperately at his hands begging him to let her go. She finally managed to weakly answer him, "y-ye-ss."

The man threw her to the ground, "Good. Then lets try this again, who were you talking to?" He growled.

Melinda looked down to the ground again as another tear slowly rolled down her cheek. "Your wife."

**PLEASE REVIEW!!! THERE ARE SOME VERY EXCITING CHAPTERS TO COME!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**


	12. Please Believe Me

**Ok I'm officially on winter break so I am hoping to add a few chapters before I go back to school….my goal is to add 5 more chapters…so let's see if I can make it!! I hope you are all enjoying this story so far…The huge twist is coming in the next few chapters starting with this one…I hope you all like what I've done. **

**I recently had a writer's block and couldn't figure out where I wanted to take this story next…I had an idea but simply couldn't put it into words…I want to thank **_**Jim Clancys Lollipo**_**p her "Handle with Care" and "Shattered" stories inspire me every time I read them!! I reread her stories and now am able to continue on with mine. Thank you so much my friend! I am dedicating the next few chapters to you!! **

**K here we go!!**

* * *

"My wife?" Damon was furious, "How dare you! Do you think this is funny? Do you think this is just some game? I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"Please just listen to me!" Melinda begged.

"No, why the hell would I listen to you? My wife is dead because of your husband, remember? You fucking bitch!" He ripped Melinda up and drug her back over to the poles, "Please I can see ghosts, your wife is here!" Melinda begged as he was dragging her, but he wasn't listening. When they got to the poles he lifted her hands up and tied them up to the top pole, so she was forced to stand up and face him, her hands above her head.

"You liar!! My wife isn't here!" He screamed as slapped her hard in the face.

Melinda tried to talk to him through her tears, "Ye-s…she i-s-s…Ji-m isn't the o-ne who…who hur-hurt her!"

Damon had enough, he knew she was lying now, "Yes he is!! I know it was him! How dare you talk about her and say she is here! You have no idea what you are talking about!" He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a knife, "You're going to pay for this!" He growled.

"Please help me! Make him understand!" Melinda cried to Riley, who had been watching this entire time.

"What can I do?" Riley asked.

"Please…" Melinda cried.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm not falling for your stupid game!" He held the knife up to her stomach, Melinda gasped, "_No not my baby,"_ she thought. She had to think of something quickly.

"Ask him if he remembers how he proposed? On the beach under the sunset?" Riley yelled at Melinda.

Damian was just about to slash her stomach when he noticed Melinda was looking at something. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and forced her to look at him. Melinda noticed the rage and hurt in his eyes; she was so scared but knew she had to try. She was shaking when she asked him, "She wants to know if you remember the night you proposed to her, on the beach under the sunset? She wants to know if you remember what you said to her?"

"What did you just say?"

"Do you remember what you said?" Melinda asked again, she could see the shock in his eyes and knew that this was her chance.

"You said that she was the light of your life, that before her it was like you were in a fog, but she was the sunshine that cleared it all away, now you can see clearly." Damon stepped back in disbelief; he couldn't believe what she was telling him, Melinda knew she had to keep going. "With her by your side, nothing can go wrong. She makes you who you are, and you couldn't picture the rest of your life without her standing right next to you."

Damon dropped the knife on the floor as a tear slowly fell down his face. "Who, Who told you that?"

"Riley did, she's here with us."

"Riley?" Damian cried, "Oh my god, your husband isn't the one who hurt her? What have I done?" He crumpled to the floor.

"No, Jim didn't hurt her, but the man who did is coming here for me. Please you have to let me go and get me out of here." Melinda begged.

Damian looked at Melinda, "he is coming here? Why?"

"I don't know but that isn't important right now, please let me go! I need to get to Jim! Please…" A tear rolled down Melinda's cheek at the thought of Jim. All she wanted was to be back in his arms again. The only place she ever felt truly loved and safe. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was ok now. All she cared about was getting back to him.

Damon stood up and made his way over to Melinda, "If I let you go then you will go straight to the police…"

"He will kill him," Riley screamed, "you both have to get out of here now!"

"The man that is coming for me is going to kill you and take me! Please I promise you I won't go to the police, all I want is to go home." Melinda cried.

"How do I know you are telling the truth?" Damian questioned.

"You are just going to have to trust me…" Melinda said as she looked him straight in the eyes.

Damon reached up and was about to untie Melinda's hands when there was a huge crash upstairs…

* * *

Jim and Delia made it to the police station in less than 10 minutes…Jim sped the whole way, not caring if he got a speeding ticket, the only thing that mattered to him right now was finding Melinda.

Jim parked the car and rushed into the police station and up to the front desk, where a woman was typing away at her keyboard.

"Excuse me?"

The woman glanced up, "oh I'm sorry I didn't see you, how can I help you?"

Jim had no time for niceties, "I need to talk to the detective in charge of my wife's case."

"What's your wife's name and what kind of case is it?" The woman asked while she started typing again.

"Melinda Gordon, and it's a kidnapping." Jim sighed

The woman looked up at him, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, umm let me see here…." She said as she searched the police database. "Umm….oh here it is, the detective's name is Det. Marshal. Let me call him and tell him you're here." She said as she smiled up at Jim.

"Thank you so much…" Jim said as he and Delia turned to go sit down.

Minutes later Det. Marshal walked in… "Jim?"

Jim immediately stood up and shook the man's hand, "Det. Marshal, I need to show you something."

"What is it?"

"I think this is the man who took my wife." Jim said as he showed him Damon's picture.

**PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	13. Rescue?

**Ok first of all I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed!! Especially the last chapter…I was getting kind of bummed about my story because it didn't seem like it was getting a lot of reviews, so I thought that no one liked it…but after the reviews I just read for the last chapter, I now know I was wrong. Thank you all sooo much!! **

**Like I mentioned in the last chapter, this chapter and the next one are dedicated to "Jim Clancy's Lollipop!!" Thank you again for all the inspiration you give me!! I hope you guys like it!! **

* * *

_*******Bold and italicized writing are memories that Jim is thrown into…He told Delia that he couldn't get the images out of his head, they are images of Mel getting hurt and memories of what she told him**_

* * *

Det. Marshal looked at Jim questioningly, "What?"

"This is the man who took my wife." Jim said again.

"How do you know this?" Det. Marshal asked while he took the paper out of Jim's hand and looked at the picture and the information on it.

"Because he pulled a gun on Melinda and I while we were at our favorite place…when he was taking her he talked t me on the phone and I thought it sounded like him but I wasn't sure, but I know now that it is him."

"Alright, let me give this to my men and they will find where he lives." Det. Marshal explained quickly before walking away.

Jim watched anxiously as he walked away, then began to pace back and forth.

Delia gently placed her hand on his arm to stop him, "Jim please you need to calm down, they will find her. You've done all you can. Here…" Delia said as she patted the seat next to her, "sit down."

"Delia I can't relax, not until she is back in my arms. I need to know that she is safe; I need to hold her and tell her that everything is alright now and that I have her. How can I relax when I know she is scared and alone, probably being hurt as we speak? Delia I just can't. I need her here with me." Jim said as a tear rolled down his cheek. He stopped talking and looked out the window to the street while he was thrown in to yet another memory…

"**I want you to pay, I want you to feel the same pain I felt, the pain you caused, I'm going to do to your wife the same thing you did to mine…maybe even more…you're going to suffer like I've suffered!" **

"**JIM PLEASE HELP ME!!" Melinda screamed.**

_Jim pinched the rim of his nose…_

"**LIAR!! You F*#&ing Liar!! How dare you…Own up Jim you, know you did it!!" The man was becoming more and more angry. He pulled Mel closer to him and to the phone so Jim could hear her crying. "Your wife here is going to pay for what you did…maybe after losing her, you will finally understand my pain!!" **

"It should have been me that he took…" Jim finally said, breaking the silence.

Delia looked up at him, "Jim, what do you mean?"

"This, this asshole thinks that I took his wife and is making me suffer by taking Mel and…and…hur-hurtin-g he-r-r…because o-o-f m-me…" Jim said as he pointed to his chest, "He should have taken me…no-not her."

Delia instantly stood up and wrapped Jim in a hug. "But you didn't hurt his wi-"

"But he thinks I did and that is why he took her!" Jim said as he pulled out of the hug. "Why not take me? Why not get his revenge on me…instead of her?" Jim wiped the tears that were now freely falling down his face. "Dee I can't get the images out of my head…I keep replaying over and over what she said to me…all the details."

"_**He told me that I shouldn't be awake yet and then he . . . he . . . he hit me across the face and knocked me out."**_

"_**I was in what seemed to be a basement because when I woke up the floor was made out of cement. My hands were tied behind my back with a chain that was bolted into the ground so there was absolutely no way for me to escape. Also when the man walked in he had to come down a flight of stairs."**_

"_**He got really mad and beat me then said that you were never coming to save me."**_

"I keep seeing her hurt and scared and…I'm not there. It's my job to protect her, not to get her into trouble. Dee I promised her nothing would happen." Jim sighed.

"_**Shhh, nothing's going to happen to you. Mel I promise you, nothing will happen."**_

"But Jim you do protect her…you're always there-"

"But I wasn't this time." Jim interjected.

"Jim let me finish…You're always there to protect her. The only time that she feels completely safe is when she is with you. Jim you are her rock! It's not your fault that this creep took her…but it will be your fault when she makes it through this. You are the reason she will fight, just like you are always the reason she fights. She told me about the time that she fell down in the woods and was in a coma…she told me about how she saw the light and was about to go into it but then saw you by her side, just like you always are, and she fought for you! Just like she is fighting now! Jim she won't give up, she will do everything she can to get back to you. You are the reason she is strong enough to fight this and win…you have to stay strong for her." Delia explained to him.

Jim looked at Delia as another tear ran down his cheek, "Thank you Dee…"

Just then Det. Marshal and a group of men entered the lobby where Jim and Delia were. "We found his address and are going there now…wait here and we'll call you if we find her." He said quickly as he walked past Jim and Delia.

"I'm coming with you." Jim declared.

Det. Marshal stopped and looked back at Jim. "Jim, you can't, you need to stay here, we'll take care of it."

"No I need to come with you, I need to be there if you find her. Please I'm a paramedic, let me help you. You are going to need a medic on sight anyway." he looked at Det. Marshal pleadingly.

Det. Marshal shook his head, "Jim…I-"

"Please? I need to be there." Jim asked again.

"Alright come on..." Det. Marshal said, he knew there was no use arguing, Jim probably would have followed them if he said no.

"Dee I'll call you when we find her." Jim shouted back as he chased after Det. Marshal and his men.

"Please bring her home!" Delia shouted back.

It took them roughly 30 minutes to drive to Damon's house with sirens blaring…Jim and Det. Marshal were sitting in the back of the car…on the way Det. Marshal tried to prepare Jim for what he might see.

"Jim, you need to understand a couple of things."

"What?" Jim asked as he looked out the window.

"First, from what you've described to me, your wife may be beaten pretty badly…I need to know that you will be able to handle it?"

Jim looked up at him, "I know, I've dealt with a lot of bad things over the years working as a paramedic. I'm not going to lie to you, this will be by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but I will be able to handle it. She is my wife, I have to be able to handle it."

"Alright I just wanted to make sure that you were prepared for what you may see."

"What's the other thing I needed to understand?" Jim asked as he looked at the road ahead of them.

Det. Marshal sighed, "That she may not be there."

Jim focused his attention back to the detective, "I know." It was all he could manage to say, he knew that she may not be there, but he prayed she was. He didn't know what else to do or where else to turn if she wasn't.

"We're here…" the driver said as they approached the house.

Det. Marshal led the attack on the house. He was followed by a group of police officers with Jim in the back. Det. Marshal tried the door knob, it was locked. He knocked on the door and stated that they were the police and demanded that Damon let them in. After he received no answer he looked back to his men and gave them the signal to knock the door down. With one swift motion the door was knocked down and Det. Marshal entered the house.

He walked into a house that looked like a struggle had taken place. His men and him spread out and scanned the entire house, looking for any signs of Damon or Melinda. Jim stayed close to Det. Marshal, they slowly made their way into the kitchen where Jim stopped dead in his tracks, laying on the ground before them was Damon, dead…

"Everything is clear!" Jim and Det. Marshal heard the officers yell.

"What the hell happened here?" Det. Marshal asked as he slowly bent down next to Damon's body to check for a pulse. The detective turned to look at Jim but he was already walking away. "Jim, where are you going?" he asked.

"She has to be here somewhere, something isn't right." Jim said before yelling, "Mel!? Melinda!?"

The detective stood and followed Jim, he was just as confused as Jim was.

Jim walked through 3 of the rooms in the house looking for any sign that Melinda was there, when he passed a door. Jim opened it and discovered that it led to a basement.

"Mel!? Baby, please if you can hear me, make a noise!! Mel!?" Jim made his way down to the bottom of the stairs and froze where he was. On the ground were multiple spots of blood. He noticed the hook in the middle of the floor…

"_**I was in what seemed to be a basement because when I woke up the floor was made out of cement. My hands were tied behind my back with a chain that was bolted into the ground so there was absolutely no way for me to escape. Also when the man walked in he had to come down a flight of stairs."**_

"_**I was in a strange place and was tied up. I couldn't get out no matter how hard I tried. Then a man came in and slapped me across the face and told me I had to love him. I told him that I loved you"**_

"Mel? Baby please where are you?" Jim yelled again as he slowly made his way around the basement. He stopped and slowly picked up a black robe, he collapsed to the floor when he realized it was Melinda's. "Detective!" he yelled.

The detective walked over to where Jim was, "Yeah?"

"Th-this be-lon-ngs to Me-e-el." Jim cried as he held her robe up so the detective could see it. The detective took the robe and knelt down next to Jim, "Jim, we will find her, I promise."

Jim looked at the detective, "How can you promise that? Where the hell is she? He took her but she isn't here? And who the fuck killed him? This makes no sense. Why is she not here? All I want is my wife back!" Jim yelled out in anger and frustration.

"Jim, you're right I can't promise you anything, but I will say this, I have my best men on this case. We will do our best to find her. Now I need you to look around for anything else that may belong to your wife." The detective said as he stood up, "I'm going to look around as well."

Jim simply nodded as he stood up and began making his way around the basement.

Det. Marshal was bent down over one of the spots of blood as was examining it when he noticed the poles set up in the corner. He stood up and made his way over to them. He noticed the different chains set up and sighed, he knew exactly what they were for.

"What's all this?" Jim asked as he walked up behind the detective.

"Jim, please, I don't think you need to see this."

"What do you mean I shouldn't see it, what is it?" Jim asked as he pushed past the detective and looked at the poles.

"Jim, please, its better if you didn't know."

"Det. Marshal, please I need to know everything." Jim declared.

"Jim, this is where I think he tied her up." The detective waited to see how Jim would respond.

"Tied her up for what?"

"Jim let me get all the facts before we assume the worst." The detective said as he placed a hand on Jim's shoulder, "Come on Jim we need to leave so the scene can be processed. If there is any chance of finding your wife it will be in here."

But Jim wouldn't budge, "Detective, what are you not telling me?"

"Jim I promise as soon as I get all the facts I will tell you everything, but I don't want to assume the worst and have you worry more then you already are." The detective sighed when he noticed Jim's worried look.

"Det. Marshal, please tell me."

"Jim, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Detective, if it involves my wife, then I want to know every detail. I need to know what she is going through, how much pain she is in…how….scared she is. Please…"

The detective looked over the basement one more time before answering, he knew that Melinda had been through a lot already and wasn't sure how much Jim would be able to listen to but he knew he needed to know. If it was his wife he would want to know as well. "Come on Jim, my men need to process this, we need to wait outside. It isn't ethical and I'm not supposed to do this but after they are done, you and I will come back in and I will walk you through everything I know. I promise you that I will tell you every detail that I know."

"Thank you detective," Jim said as he turned and made his way back up the stairs.

Det. Marshal followed behind him, once outside he informed his men that they could start processing the house and to inform him when they were through.

Jim walked over to where the car was, there was a boulder next to where they parked, Jim sat down on it and put his head in his hands and waited while the officers did their job. But he still couldn't get Melinda's words out of his head…

"_**Jim, th-there's someone here."**_

"_**Jim I'm scared, please help me"**_

God why wasn't I there? She needed me…

"**JIM HELP ME PLEASE!! JIM HE'S GOT ME!!" Melinda desperately screamed as the man ripped the phone from her grasp. **

"**MEL!! MELINDA!! MELINDA!!"\**

She was so scared….

"_**Jim I love you!!"**_

The last words she said to him echoed the loudest of them all….I'll find you baby…I promise you I won't stop until I do….I won't let you down again.

Just then Jim's phone rang…

_**Hey guys that was the big twist…I know you are probably confused about what is going on but the next chapter will explain what happened…I promise…I thought this way would be more of a shock…btw hope you guys liked the extra long chapter…I didn't plan on making it this long but it took a while to explain everything….anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it! Oh and sorry for the huge cliff hanger but you will have to wait until chapter 15 to figure that one out….**_

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!! I LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE TO SAY!! PLEASE REVIEW!!**_


	14. David Hendricks

_**Ok I know you guys probably all hate me cause I basically left you high and dry with this chapter for forever…I'm so sorry but school got super duper busy and I could only write a couple times so it took me forever! Ugh seriously. But I hope it was worth the wait….Please let me know what you think by reviewing when you're done with it. **_

_**This chapter is dedicated to Jim Clancy's Lollipop…she is absolutely amazing!! Thank you soooooo much girlie for helping me with this chapter. Your advice was amazing and I tried to use every one of them when I fixed it. You definitely rock. Thank you again!! **_

_**Ok guys so here it goes…don't forget to let me know what you think. It's so much easier to write when people let you know if they are liking it or not. **_

_

* * *

_

_Previously on Taken…._

"_How do I know you are telling the truth?" Damon questioned. _

"_You are just going to have to trust me…" Melinda said as she looked him straight in the eyes. _

_Damon reached up and was about to untie Melinda's hands when there was a huge crash upstairs…_

Damon spun around… "What was that?"

"It's him!" Riley whispered.

Melinda turned and looked at Riley, "Who?"

"The…the man who took me…" Riley shook with fear as the memories of what he had done to her came back.

"What did she say?" Damon asked as he reverted his attention back to Melinda.

"She said he's here, the man who killed her." Melinda whispered.

"It's him?" Damon said as he looked back up towards the door and slowly started walking towards the steps.

"Wait! Where are you going? Please untie me…" Melinda cried out.

"Shh, I'll be…right back…" Damon mumbled as he quietly made his way up the stairs.

"Please!!" Melinda begged, but Damon was already to the top of the stairs and peeking through the door.

"Shh!!" he hissed at her as he walked through the door.

Melinda could hear the floor creaking from the man walking around upstairs, she couldn't help but tremble.

* * *

Meanwhile upstairs the man was searching the entire house trying to find where Damon had Melinda hidden. "Damon!! Where did you hide her?!"

"Who?" Damon questioned as he stepped out from behind the wall to face the man. "David? What are you doing here?"

"Where is she?" David sneered.

"Who?" Damon was extremely confused.

"You know who I am talking about…that girl on the news…where is she Damon?"

"What girl on the news? What the hell are you talking about David?"

"Look, I know you took her…I want her! She belongs with me!!"

"Belongs with you? What the fuck are you talking about man?"

* * *

Riley had been waiting down stairs with Melinda, she was too scared to go upstairs herself. Melinda could hear them talking but was having trouble understanding their conversation, "Riley" Melinda whispered.

Riley was shaking and staring at the door, "hmm?"

"Riley I need to know what is going on up there, please can you go see?" Melinda asked.

Riley didn't answer, she was frozen in place staring at the door…

"Riley" Melinda whispered again, still nothing though. "Riley!!"

It was no use though Riley was reliving every second she was held hostage by her killer. Just knowing he was in the same house as her again brought all the memories flooding back.

"Riley please…Riley!??" Melinda was trying frantically to bring her back.

A tear slowly made its way down Riley's cheek as she turned and looked at Melinda. "I…I…cant." She stuttered, "He's the guy wh-who hurt me. And once Damon realizes who he is…" Riley paused and took as deep shaky breath, "he is going to be heart-broken." Riley cried as a tear made its way down her cheek. "The entire time I was missing, he was so close to finding me. He talked to my killer daily."

"He what? Riley who took you? Does Damon know who he is?" Melinda was so confused.

Riley turned and looked at Melinda as a tear made its way down her cheek. She took another shaky breath before answering, "His name is David Hendricks, he is Damon's best friend."

"What?! Riley why did he take you?"

"He said that Damon didn't love me the way he did…he…he umm." Riley broke down. She couldn't handle the memories anymore.

"Riley you know that Damon loved you right?" Melinda reassured her.

"He…he made it sound so real." Riley cried

"Riley….Riley look at me." Melinda whispered.

Riley turned and looked at Melinda as another tear made its way down her cheek.

"Riley, your husband loved you with all of his heart. If he didn't, then he wouldn't have gone through everything he went through to get revenge. Riley if he didn't love you then he wouldn't have kidnapped me."

"There were times where I actually started to believe what David was telling me. I love my husband so much that it killed me to think that maybe he actually didn't love me." Riley cried.

"Riley you always knew that your husband loved you though. It's natural to doubt it when you go through the trauma that you went through. I know that you feel extremely guilty but your husband would understand. He loves you and that's all that matters." Melinda explained.

"I know and that's why I love him," Riley smiled for the first time.

"Ok I know that it's difficult for you but please, can you continue telling me what happened?" Melinda begged.

Riley nodded her head yes and took a deep breath before continuing, "David said that I should have married him, he tried many different times to get me to leave Damon and go out with him, but I wouldn't. I love my husband with all of my heart and would never leave him. I guess he got tired of me refusing and took me…he…he forced me to love him."

"Riley I am so sorry…" Melinda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I understand how hard that must have been for you. I miss my husband and want to be back in his arms right now." A tear escaped as Melinda was talking. "My husband always knows how to make me feel better. No matter what I am going through, as soon as he wraps me in his arms I feel like nothing can hurt me, its just me and him. I can't even imagine the idea of not being with him, which is why I am fighting so hard, if I fight then I might be able to see him again. I know its hard right now Riley but I need to you to fight. I need you to fight for me, for you and for Damon. He needs you up there, and you and I both need to know what is going on up there. So please…can you go up and see?"

"Melinda," Riley said as she shook her head, "I can't…"

"Riley please?"

* * *

Riley appeared next to Damon and trembled at the sight of David. She couldn't believe that he had hurt her like he did. She became more and more furious. She couldn't explain it but she felt powerful, like her energy was feeding off of something. She focused all of that energy on David; all of a sudden the chandelier David was standing under started to shake violently. Riley looked up at it just as it fell and almost hit David. Suddenly Damon understood…

"It was you?!!" Damon accused David.

"What was me?"

"How could you? I trusted you?" Damon yelled in disbelief, he couldn't believe it.

"You finally figured it out huh?"

"But…." Damon was in complete shock, he didn't know what to say. What do you say to your best friend? He was utterly speechless, even though it was only seconds it seemed to Damon like it took hours to figure out what to say, "Why? She was my wife!! How could you?"

David simply smiled at Damon…

"I don't understand, we've been friends for 15 years. You were the best man in our wedding…I came to you when she went missing. You told me we would find that son-of-a-bitch! But all this time that son-of-a-bitch was you!! Why?"

"She didn't belong with you…she belonged with me. I tried to get her to understand that. I tried everything I could think of to get her to understand that we were meant to be together; I sent her emails, letters, text messages, cards…I even approached her about it but she ignored me every time." David glared at Damon, "She wouldn't leave you, so I took her and told her she had to love me."

"If you loved her so much…then why did you hurt her?!!" Damon was furious…he was shaking with anger!

"I had to show her that I was the boss, when she disobeyed me, there were consequences." David grinned.

"Consequences?!! You fucking bastard!! She was perfect!! She was my girl and you took her and destroyed her! How could you? She obviously didn't love you!! She loved me! She was my life! And you took her away! You destroyed her! You broke her into a million pieces, how can you do that to someone you supposedly love? You're going to fucking pay!! You fucking asshole!!"

Riley was listening to their conversation the entire time, a tear made its way down her cheek as she listened to what Damon just said. It always made her tear up when he talked about her and how much he loved her. She could tell just how heart-broken he was right now.

"Oh trust me…she loved me…she just wouldn't admit it." David sneered.

"You're fucking sick!!" Damon yelled.

"You want to know how she died?" David smiled devilishly.

Damon simply looked at him with a tear rolling down his face. He had wanted to know how she died since he found out was dead. He always wondered how much she suffered, if she was in pain, if she was scared, or if she didn't feel a thing. He needed to know how she died but didn't know if he really wanted to know anymore. He didn't know if his heart could take it? He always blamed himself for not finding her in time. Could he really handle hearing how she died knowing it was his fault?

"She died in my arms, I held her as she whispered my name! My name was the last words out of her mouth!" David chuckled.

"Liar!!" Riley screamed out even though no one could hear her.

Damon had enough, he lunged at him with his knife out but didn't notice the gun that David was hiding.

Damon finally noticed the gun but it was too late, David fired and hit him right in the stomach. Damon grabbed the wound in pain and fell to his knees. He was kneeled over and looked at his wound and the amount of blood that was pouring out onto his hands, he slowly looked up as David bent down and put the gun to Damon's chest, "If I couldn't have her, then no one could!" He sneered then stood up and pulled the trigger.

"NOOOOOOO!!!" Riley screamed.

* * *

Melinda gasped when she heard the gun shot, she knew that the man who took her had a gun but wasn't sure who fired it. She began trembling uncontrollably as she heard the footsteps getting closer and closer to the door. It seemed as if time had suddenly slowed down. Melinda pulled and tugged on the chains, the loud clanking sound they made were like drums, they were so loud. She knew the man would be able to hear her if she continued but she also knew she couldn't just sit down here and wait for him to find her, she made that mistake last time when the guy broke into her house. She knew she had to keep trying. So she pulled and tugged at the chains some more. She grabbed onto the chains and pulled down as violently and as hard as she could but they wouldn't budge. She even tried to slip her hands out of the handcuffs that were holding her hostage but they were tightened too tight for that to work. Melinda was slowly losing hope, all she could do was pray that the man who took her would walk through the door and not the other guy…Suddenly the door flew open, the silence that filled the room was deafening. All Melinda could make out was his silhouette against the bright light behind him. She felt as if her heart was going to jump right out of her chest, it was beating so loudly she was sure the man at the top of the steps could hear it too.

The man slowly made his way down the stairs and over to her…time still seemed to be at a stand-still because it seemed to Melinda that it took him an hour to make it down the stairs and over to where she was. She strained her eyes with every step he made trying to make out who he was, but she still couldn't see his face because it was so dark. She could feel her heart racing and the tears forming in her eyes. She gasped when she finally saw his face though…It wasn't Jim but he looked an awful lot like Jim…he was a little taller than Jim but had the same dark hair and facial features. To anyone else she could see how it would be easy to mix them up, but she knew better. This man didn't have Jim's eyes, those deep blue eyes that she loved so much. She would get lost in them every time. All Jim had to do was look at her and she would melt on the spot. This man though had beady black eyes that made her blood turn cold.

"Hello Melinda." David said slowly.

"Wh-Who are y-ou-u?" Melinda stuttered.

"The love of your life." he grinned as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her face with his hand.

Melinda pulled her head away in disgust, "Don't touch me!" She yelled.

David swiftly raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face, "If you know what's good for you, you will learn quickly to obey me!" He growled. "Now let's take a look at you." He sneered as he slowly began to walk around Melinda.

Melinda clamped her eyes shut; she could feel him looking over every inch of her body. Melinda tried to remember happier times with Jim, anything to get her away from this situation…

**They had just been on their third date. He took her to dinner at one of the best restaurants in town, then surprised her by taking her up to top of a hill where he had dessert, which was chocolate covered strawberries, waiting for them. **

**Melinda and Jim both were having an amazing time and didn't want the night to end but they both knew that it had to. So they packed everything up and left. **

**Jim parked outside her front door and quickly got out of the car and opened the door for Mel. He then took her hand and walked her to the door. **

"**I had an amazing night tonight Jim…thank you so much!" Melinda smiled. **

"**Me too, I'm glad that you enjoyed it." Jim said softly as he looked into her eyes. **

**They were both just stood there, staring into each other's eyes until Jim slowly leaned in. He slowly reached up and caressed the back of her neck and brought her in for the kiss. **

**Melinda leaned in with Jim and when their lips finally touched it was like magic. Neither had ever felt a connection like that before. It sounds cliché but sparks flew between them. Melinda brought her hand up and cupped Jim's cheek while they kissed. Even though it only lasted a few seconds, it was one of the best moments and kisses of their lives. It was the first time they ever kissed.**

But the man pulled her back to reality when he ran his hand across her stomach. Melinda opened her eyes and gasped as the man slid his hand to her back and pulled her in to him, so he could whisper into her ear, "It's time to go my sweet. We're going to have a lot of fun, just the two of us. Together forever!" He smiled.

"No, please just let me go!" Melinda pleaded as the man reached up to untie her. "Please, I want to be with my husband. I need to be with Jim…Pl-plea-ase…." Melinda began to cry at the thought of Jim. Just thinking about him made her heart ache for him.

David instantly threw his hand up and wrapped it around her throat, "You need to listen to me! Jim is out of the picture! You will never see him again! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!!!!" The man yelled, "You and I are going to be together…Jim never loved you! I love you! We belong together!! I never want to hear you talk about him again! Do you understand?!!" The man glared at her waiting for her to respond.

A tear made its way down Melinda's cheek at the thought of never seeing Jim again, she knew he would find her somehow so she had to stay strong for him, and right now, staying strong meant lying to this lunatic. "Yes….." Melinda whispered.

"What did you say?" The man asked as he tightened his grip around her throat.

Melinda gasped for air, "Y-Y-Ye-e-s-s-s-s" she managed to say a little louder.

David released his grip around her throat, "That's better, now let's get you out of here." He said as he reached up again to untie her. Once Melinda was untied he untied her hands so she could slip back into her robe. He held her robe up for her so she could put it on; Melinda looked at him and remembered what Jim told her…

"_**I know babe, I love you, I'm going to find you, I promise!! I need you to fight ok! Don't give up, I'll find you but you have to stay strong ok…I love you, with all of my heart!!" Jim cried, tears streaming down his face. **_

"Alright baby, I'll fight for you." _Melinda thought to herself. She wasted no time; she instantly turned and bolted straight for the door. _

"_Hey!! What the hell!" David yelled. _

_Melinda made it to the stairs and started sprinting up them. _

"_I don't think so!!" David yelled as he caught up with her and grabbed her by the ankle, causing her to trip and fall. She landed roughly on the stairs. She slammed both knees, and her face into the steps. She had blood oozing from her mouth where she bit her tongue on impact and also from the gash on her cheek. _

_David reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair and violently ribbed her up to her feet. "What the fuck was that? Where did you think you were going?!" He was absolutely furious. "It's obvious to me that you are going to be a problem that needs to be fixed and trained immediately!" He growled. "You left me know choice." He sighed. _

"_Please, let me go!" Melinda bawled. "I want to go home, please!" _

_The man pulled a needle out of his pocket. He slammed Melinda against the wall, "give me your arm." He ordered. _

"_What is that? What are you going to do to me?" Melinda cried. She tried to hide both of her arms behind her back but David grabbed one of them before she could move it. _

"_I said…GIVE ME YOU GOD DAMN ARM!" He screamed. He then stabbed her with the needle and emptied the syringe into her. "That should do the trick." He said when the needle was empty. _

_Melinda looked at her arm, "What did you ju-u-us-s-t p-p-u-u-u-t-t i-i-n-n me?" Melinda asked as her words started to slur together. _

_David didn't answer her instead he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He walked back through the kitchen door the he kicked in earlier and threw Melinda into the back of his van and drove off. _

**PLEASE PRESS THE BUTTON AND REVIEW!!! WHAT DID YOU THINK?? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW!!**

**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!**

**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!**

**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! **

**REVIEW!!**


	15. You're Wrong!

Melinda woke up only to find herself sprawled out on a cement floor. She had no idea where she was…she was extremely confused. She slowly sat up, only to notice she had a blinding headache and was extremely dizzy and weak. She assumed by now that the man hadn't injected her with any kind of drug like she originally thought, but with some sort of mild sedative that seemed to knock her out for a short period of time, although she had no idea how long she had been out. She tried to put her hand up to her head but realized that she was again tied up. She looked around the room but was confused by what she saw; it seemed to her that she was in the basement again. Everything looked the same as before…exactly the same. Everything was placed identically.

Suddenly she heard the floor creak above her and the door opened. She gasped in fear as she turned to face the door.

"Oh…you're awake!" David smiled as he made his way down the stairs and over to where she was.

Melinda tried to scoot away but it was no use, the chain would only allow her to go so far.

"How did you sleep my dear?" He asked sweetly as he knelt down next to her.

Melinda didn't answer; she kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her.

"Melinda? How did you sleep?" He asked again, this time a little more agitated then before.

Again Melinda didn't respond she closed her eyes as a tear escaped. She could tell that David was becoming more and more angry.

David glared at her as he stood up and towered over her. He then reached up and slammed his fist into the back of her head. Melinda screamed out in pain. She tried as best as she could to curl herself up into a ball to protect herself and her baby from the beating, but it didn't really help since her hands were tied behind her back. He beat her mercilessly; he kicked and hit her multiple times. After roughly 10 minutes the beating finally stopped. Melinda was curled up on the ground crying, she hurt so bad and already had bruises forming from where he hit her. David reached down and grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her up so she was sitting. Melinda cried out in pain…everything hurt.

"Melinda you need to learn something and you need to learn it fast!" David growled at her. Melinda wouldn't look him in the eyes though; she kept her eyes fixed on the ground. "First of all…you WILL look at me when I talk to you!" David yelled as grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her head back so she was looking at him. Melinda gasped in pain and didn't try to hide the tears that were now easily falling. "Second you need to learn that I am the boss…Melinda I love you and I don't want to or like to hurt you, but when you disobey me there ARE consequences that you must face!! You WILL learn that what I say goes, you are to obey me and do as I say…Is that understood?" He questioned.

Melinda nodded in agreement, even though she didn't plan on obeying him, she would do anything right now not to be beaten again. She honestly didn't think that she could handle another one right now, she was already having enough trouble simply sitting there as it was.

David smiled at her, "Good…I see that you are learning quickly. Last rule and maybe the most important rule of them all…You will NEVER…see Jim again." David emphasized the word never to make sure she understood him.

Melinda's eyes grew wide as she looked him straight in the eyes. She was completely terrified that he may be right, but then she remembered what Jim told her…

_**Jim pulled out of the hug and took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, "Shhh, nothing's going to happen to you. Mel I promise you, nothing will happen." **_

"_**But what if it does?'' **_

"_**Then I will find you. I will continue to look for you until I find you. Mel I will never give up."**_

Melinda knew that Jim would never stop looking for her. She knew that he was doing everything he possibly could right now to find her and bring her back to him. She knew that he would never give up, that he would continue to look for her until she was back in his arms again and she wasn't about to have this lunatic try and tell her otherwise. "You're wrong." Melinda said as confidently as she could, even though it only came out as a weak whisperer.

"What did you say?"

"You're wrong, Jim loves me! He will find me."

David couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You're husband doesn't love you! He never did! But I do…I love you more than you ever thought he did."

"You're wrong! Jim loves me more then you can even imagine! Our love is something special that you wouldn't understand. And how can you even say you love me? You don't know me…how can you love someone you don't know?"

This infuriated David, he slapped her hard across the face. Melinda whimpered in pain but continued to look him in the eyes, she wasn't going to let him win this argument. She had to stay strong for Jim, she promised him she would. "Your husband doesn't love you!"

"Yes he does…"

"I love you!" David growled.

"No you don't! Please…let me go so I can go-o back to my husband."

"You bitch!! Can't you see that he felt sorry for you and that's why he stayed with you for so long? Everyone else can see it…why can't you?"

Even though Melinda knew it wasn't true, the words still hurt. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was telling the truth. _"No Melinda, pull yourself together. You know that Jim loves you and will do absolutely anything and everything for you!" _Melinda told herself.

"Jim LOVES me!" Melinda said with confidence and this time it came out loud and clear.

"That's it!" David yelled as he stood up and made his way to the door.

Melinda was terrified about what he was about to do, "Wh-Where are you going?"

"You're going to say goodbye to your husband! Once and for all!!" he yelled as he slammed the door shut.

Melinda instantly broke down and cried, she didn't know what the man had planned but she didn't want to find out. She was afraid that he was going to kill Jim. She loved him with all of her heart and would do anything for him. How could she let this man kill him over her? No she wouldn't allow it! She had to fight not only for herself but for Jim also. She had to protect them both. Melinda pulled and tugged at the chains, she had to get out of here and save Jim. She tried for as long as she could and as hard as she could to free herself, but it was no use, she was too weak. She didn't know how long it had been since she was taken but she knew that she had had no food or water since then and had been beat multiple times. Her body was shutting down, it couldn't handle much more pain. She did the only thing left that she could do….she laid herself down on the ground and started to cry.


	16. Calling Jim

_**He guys….sorry that it has yet again taken me forever to update this story. School is getting so crazy that I barely have enough time to sleep let alone write…but I just had my spring break and was able to write a little bit. I know this is a really sort chapter but I promise I am almost done with the next chapter and from what I have planned it should be a longer chapter…I hope to post that one asap…hopefully before the week is over. **_

_**Thank you to everyone who has continued to follow this story! I love signing on here and reading all of the wonderful reviews that you guys leave! They are the reason that I continue to write! You guys are amazing!! And to those of you who are wondering what will happen next, all I can say is continue reading. I hope you enjoy where this story is going…**_

* * *

David was so angry he punched a hole in the wall. He then stormed through the kitchen door and headed straight for the phone. "That's it!" He yelled to himself. "I will show her that he doesn't love her! I will make her understand! How can she think that he loved her all this time? She needs to understand that I'm the one who loves her! NOT HIM!!" He shouted as he grabbed the phone and headed back downstairs.

After roughly 10 minutes Melinda could hear him coming back so she sat up and curled herself back into a ball.

David threw the door open and stormed down the stairs and over to where she was, "If you will not believe that Jim does not love you then I will prove it to you!" He yelled. Melinda looked up at him and was completely terrified. "I'm going to show you that he doesn't love you then you will say goodbye to him forever! I never want to hear his name again. Is That Understood?!" He yelled.

Melinda simply looked at him, she knew that Jim loved her with all of his heart and that she loved him just as much. She knew that no matter what this lunatic did that their love could never be broken. She also knew that she could never ever forget about Jim or stop thinking about him. So all she could do was look at David.

"Answer me!" he screamed as he slapped Melinda hard across the face. Melinda looked up at him with a tear in her eye, "no." she said.

"What did you say?"

"No…I love Jim and he is coming for me!" She said with as much pride as she could.

David had had enough, he pulled out a knife he was hiding in his back pocket and flipped Melinda around. He held the knife to her throat as he spoke. "Do you know Jim's number by heart?"

Melinda gasped in fear.

"Do you know Jim's number by heart?" He asked again, this time holding this knife closer to her throat.

"Y-Yes…" Melinda stuttered as more and more tears began to fall. They were tears of relief and of fear. She was relieved because she might get the chance to hear Jim's voice again, but she was afraid of what this lunatic was going to do to her, or say to Jim. She was also afraid that maybe this man may be right…she was afraid that maybe Jim might not love her like she thought he did. It was hard not to believe him when she was so weak.

The man shoved the phone into her hand, "call him!" He sneered.

Melinda nodded and dialed the number of the man she loved.

* * *

_**Again I am sorry that this chapter is so short…but I promise the next chapter will be interesting…will Mel be able to talk to Jim? What will David tell Jim? Does Jim really love Mel or is David telling her the truth? I promise these questions will be answered in the next chapter!!**_

_**Please review and let me know what you think!!!**_


	17. Does he love her?

_**Hey everyone…sorry that I left you with such a huge cliff hanger last chapter…but it was something I had to do. Here is the new chapter…I hope that you like it!! **_

_Previously on Taken…_

_Jim walked over to where the car was, there was a boulder next to where they parked, he sat down on it and put his head in his hands and waited while the officers did their job. But he still couldn't get Melinda's words out of his head…_

"_**Jim, th-there's someone here."**_

"_**Jim I'm scared, please help me"**_

"_God why wasn't I there? She needed me…" he thought to himself._

"**JIM HELP ME PLEASE!! JIM HE'S GOT ME!!" Melinda desperately screamed as the man ripped the phone from her grasp. **

"**MEL!! MELINDA!! MELINDA!!"**

"_She was so scared…."_

"_**Jim I love you!!"**_

_The last words she said to him echoed the loudest of them all…."I'll find you baby…I promise you I won't stop until I do….I won't let you down again."_

_Just then Jim's phone rang…_

He looked at the caller ID then answered it, "Hey Dee…"

"Jim did you find her? Please tell me you found her." Delia asked frantically.

"Umm…Dee, she's umm…" Jim stuttered.

"She's what Jim? Oh god, please don't tell me…please Jim…..no." Delia cried into the phone.

"Dee, she's not here…she was here but someone took her." Jim cried.

"Someone took her? Jim what do you mean?"

_**Beep…**_

"Dee I'll explain everything when I see you…I don't even understand everything right now…after they're done Det. Marshal is going to explain everything to me…"

_**Beep…**_

"Jim I'm so sorry." Delia said.

_**Beep…**_

Jim looked at his phone and saw that he had another call coming in…but he didn't recognize the number.

"Dee I'm sorry but I have to go…I'll call you when I know more…" Jim told her.

_**Beep…**_

"Jim please be careful…" Delia knew that Jim would do anything and everything to get Melinda back, no matter how dangerous it was.

"I promise….bye Dee." Jim said as he hung up and answered the other line. "Hello?"

"Jim…" Melinda whimpered, the sound of his voice sent her brought even more tears to her eyes.

"Mel?!" Jim asked.

The man pulled the phone away from her and stood up, "No! No please I want to talk to him! Please! Let me talk to hi-" Melinda pleaded until he slapped her across the face.

"Shut up bitch!" David yelled as Melinda whimpered in pain.

Jim could hear everything that was going on, "Leave her alone! Don't you dare hurt her!" He yelled.

"Hello Jim…" The man sneered.

"Who is this?" Jim demanded.

"That's not important now…what is important is that you and I work together to make you wife understand something."

"What does she need to understand?" Jim questioned, he was trying to hide the tears that were on the verge of falling. Hearing Melinda's voice broke his heart. He could hear the fear in her voice. He knew she was hurting and that she needed him, he knew that he needed to find a way to get to her…He also heard the love in her voice. It killed him inside, Jim felt that it was his fault that she was taken, it was his fault that she was hurting, that she was scared, that she was alone. He thought that she would hate him, but he heard the love, he knew that she loved him no matter what. He had to find her! He needed her to be back in his arms!

"She needs to understand that you don't really love her." David said as Melinda cried at the sound of the words. She remembered back to the first time they said I love you…

_Jim and Melinda had been dating for roughly a month and a half now, they were watching a movie at Melinda's apartment. _

_Jim was lying on the couch with Melinda laying next to him, she had her head on his chest and his arm draped over her back. The movie they were watching just finished. Melinda sat up and smiled when she noticed that Jim had fallen asleep. She reached up and put a strand of his hair behind his ear and kissed him on the cheek before she lay back down on his chest and closed her eyes._

_Jim woke up as she was lying back down and smiled at her. He waited until she got comfortable then started to rub her back. Melinda looked back up at him, "You're awake…did I wake you up?" she asked hoping that she didn't. _

"_Yeah but it's ok, it was worth it." Jim smiled. _

"_Why was it worth it?" she asked. _

"_Because if I were sleeping then I wouldn't be able to do this…" he said as he leaned down and kissed her. It started off as just a kiss but quickly became more and more passionate. Jim traced her bottom lip begging her to let him in. Mel granted him access and Jim deepened the kiss as their tongues danced in their mouths. They finally broke apart because both desperately needed to take a breath. _

"_God, I love you Mel." Jim said as he leaned in to kiss her again. _

_Melinda pulled back and looked at him with a confused look on her face. _

"_Mel what is it?" Jim asked, his voice full of worry. _

"_What did you just say?" Mel asked. _

_Jim now understood, "Mel, I umm, I'm sorry...but I-"_

_Jim couldn't finish because Melinda kissed him deeply. When they broke apart Jim tried to explain himself, "Mel, I…" _

_Mel put her finger up to his lips to get him to stop talking, "I love you!" Mel said as she smiled. _

_Jim smiled and kissed her again, this time traced kisses down to her neck. Mel moaned as his kisses sent chills down her body._

_Jim stopped and looked back up at her. "I love you!" Jim said again. _

"_I love you too…" She smiled as she kissed him again. Then she stopped and stood up, she held out her hand to him. "Come with me?" She asked praying he would say yes. _

_Jim reached up and took her hand in his as he got off the couch. Mel led them up to her bedroom. "Mel, what are you doing?"_

_Mel just smiled up at him as she pulled him into her room, and up to her bed. She then kissed him deeply as they both lay down on the bed, Jim being on his back with Mel lying on top of him. Mel slowly started to unbutton Jim's shirt while she kissed her way down his chest. Once Jim's shirt was off he then reached up and put both hands under her shirt and lovingly pulled it over her head. Once they were both striped of their shirts, Jim pulled Mel back up to him and kissed her deeply as he rolled them over so he was now on top. They continued to kiss as Mel reached down and started to unbutton his pants. Jim reached down and stopped her hand as he pulled out of the kiss. "Mel, are you sure?" he asked, they hadn't had sex yet and didn't want to rush her into anything. _

_Melinda smiled, "Yes." _

"_Baby there's no rush, if you're not ready then we don't have to do this. I want to be sure that you're ready." _

"_Yes….Baby I'm ready. I love you and want to share this with you." _

"_I love you too Mel, with all of my heart." Jim responded as he kissed her. Melinda reached down again to unbutton his pants and this time Jim didn't stop her. Melinda successfully unbuttoned them and kicked them off of him. Jim then kissed his way down her body until he reached her pant line, once there he slowly unbuttoned her pants and pulled them off of her. Her panties soon followed. Melinda rolled Jim over so she was now on top and kissed him hard as she reached down and pulled his boxers off. Once they were completely stripped of all of their clothes, Jim flipped them over again so he was back on top. _

_He kissed Melinda then looked into her eyes, "Are you sure Mel?" he asked._

_Melinda smiled back up at him, his eyes were so full of love, "Yes, I'm positive." She then reached her hand up and gently pulled him down to kiss her again. Jim leaned down and kissed her while he slowly entered her….._

Jim was outraged by what he heard, "What do you mean I don't love her? Who the hell are you? I love my wife! She is my life, without her I am nothing! Please what do you want? I'll do anything to get her back! Please, all I want is my wife back."

"Listen, the only thing I want…is your wife." David sneered.

"What do you mean my wife?" Jim asked.

"She's mine now! I'm calling you so you can make her understand that you don't love her…that I do."

"You're wrong!!" Jim yelled into the phone. "Look I don't know what kind of sick game you are playing here but I love my wife more then you will ever be able to understand! Just let her go!!"

"Let me explain something to you Jim." The man growled. "I love your wife, she belongs with me…NOT YOU!! I tried to get her to understand but she won't listen to me…she still thinks that you love her. When she disobeys me there are consequences that follow…as your wife has already found out."

"What do you mean consequences?" Jim quickly asked.

"She needs to learn that I'm the boss…in order to do that I have to show her that I'm the one with the power…she's having some trouble understanding that….she's fighting me every step of the way…"

"What have you done to her?" Jim questioned, his voice full of rage, yet deep down he is proud of her. He knew she was fighting for him…he had to talk to her! He needs to make sure she knows just how much he loves her!

"Do you really want to know?" David asked.

"Yes."

David lowered the phone so it was right next to Melinda, then reached down with his other hand and slapped Melinda hard across the face, Melinda screamed in pain. She tried desperately to curl herself up in a ball because she knew what was coming next.

"No!! Stop!! What are you doing! Please, leave her alone!" Jim cried out.

"You wanted to know what the consequences were, now you are going to listen!" The man sneered as he set the phone on the floor next to her, he then kicked Melinda hard in the leg. Melinda screamed out in pain. All she could do though was roll up into a tighter ball. The man continued to beat her mercilessly, he punched and kicked her multiple times.

"You bastard!! STOP IT!! LEAVE HER ALONE!! PLEASE, DON'T HURT HER!! _MELINDA_!!" Jim screamed helplessly into the phone as tears streaming down his face.

Melinda could hear everything that Jim was saying…she tried to stay strong for him, she knew he was listening so she tried hard not to scream, but it hurt so bad she couldn't stop the tears from falling or the sobs that followed.

David kicked her one last time before he finally decided that he had had enough. Melinda was in so much pain. Jim could hear her crying, he knew that she was hurting, he knew she needed him. Hearing that killed him, he couldn't stand the thought that he couldn't protect her. He vowed to her that he would always be there to protect her and he failed. What kind of a husband was he?

"You still there Jim?" David asked as he picked up the phone.

"You bastard! I swear if you touch her one more time!" Jim was outraged.

"Listen Jim…you don't make the rules here! I DO!! I can do whatever the hell I want to with her," David yelled as he reached down and grabbed a handful of Melinda's hair and pulled her up and held her right next to the phone so Jim could hear her crying, "and as I just made blatantly obvious, YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!! So shut up and listen!" David screamed into the phone, as he threw Melinda back down to the floor.

"I'm listening…just don't hurt her anymore…please." Jim begged.

"Good…I'm going to give Melinda the phone, you need to explain to her that you don't love her, that you never did. Is that understood?!"

"Yes…" Jim said. He wasn't really going to tell Melinda that, but he needed to talk to her and knew that the only way to do that was to agree to whatever this lunatic told him to do.

"Now listen Jim I don't want you to try anything funny. If you don't do what I told you there will be more consequences for your wife, and this time you will listen knowing that you were the one who caused it. Do you understand?" David asked, making it perfectly clear to Jim that he had to be careful what he said and what Melinda said.

"Yes, but please give me time to talk to her, let me break it to her easy." Jim begged. He was trying to by him and Melinda some time, he knew that if he didn't then the phone call probably wouldn't be a long one.

"I will let you know when the conversation is over." David responded, "Remember what we talked about Jim, no funny business."

"I won't."

David then handed Melinda the phone. Melinda frantically put the phone up to her ear, she desperately needed to hear his voice again. Jim was the only reason she was still fighting. She needed to hear his voice, she needed to hear him call her Mel, she needed to hear him say I love you. She knew that he couldn't hold her but he could still comfort her by telling her that everything would be ok, and that he is still looking for her and will find her. What she wouldn't do to be back in his arms again. She knew that if she stayed strong and continued to fight that she one day might be able to hold him again. She took a deep breath before she spoke…

"Jim…"

_**OK guys sorry to leave such a huge cliff hanger again but I promised you guys a new chapter and I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer then you already have. I hope you guys liked this chapter…the story still has a long way to go but I hope that everyone is loving the journey we've taken so far…I promise the journey ahead is an intense one, full of fear, pain, tears, bravery, and love! I hope to update soon but I'm not sure when I will be able to…I have games the next 3 days and school has been super, super hectic… but keep your eyes on the lookout for the next chapter…its going to be an emotional one! **_

_**By the way…I absolutely love every single one of the reviews this story has received…you guys are the reason that I keep writing…your comments and questions are helping to shape this story and the road it is taking…I know I don't always write you guys back but I am reading them and absolutely loving them!! So please keep the reviews coming!! And review this chapter so I know what you guys think of it!!! **_

_**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!**_


	18. I Love You!

_**I am so sorry that I haven't written in so long. Words couldn't even begin to make up for it. School just got out for me and my softball team just got back from Nationals. Now that all of my commitments are done for the summer I will be able to write again and hopefully make up this huge absence to you guys.**_

_**I hope that all of the fans of this story have not given up on it because there is still a very exciting journey to go on with it! Anyways enough of me talking…I'm sorry again for such a long break and I hope that this chapter makes up for it. Expect a new chapter within the next couple of days! **_

_**Enjoy…**_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*"Jim…"

"Mel, oh my god, baby are you ok?"

"Jim?" Melinda cried, hearing his voice again made her crumble. She had been staying strong this whole time for him and now that she heard his voice she fell apart. She missed him so much, all she wanted was to be back in his arms. To feel him holding her and telling her how much he loved her. She wanted to feel safe again…she needed him.

"Mel…baby, I'm right here." Jim's heart broke in two. He could hear the hurt in her voice. He knew that she was getting weaker. He knew that he had to find her before it was too late. He hated knowing that she was scared and hurt and that he couldn't do anything. All he wanted was to hold her, and tell her that she was safe now. All he wanted was to have her back…he would do anything.

"Jim, I-I'm scared." Melinda cried hysterically.

"I know you are baby…I know." Jim sighed. "I'm doing everything I can to get you back. Everyone is looking for you. I promise you Mel, I will find you!"

"I know you will" Melinda knew that Jim would stop at nothing to get her back.

"Mel, how much has he hit you?" Jim asked fearing the answer she would give him, but he had to know. He needed to know how much she has gone through. He needed to know if she was hurt. He needed to know if she and his baby were ok.

"A-A l-lot" Melinda whimpered.

"Baby I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." A tear rolled down Jim's cheek as he heard this. "You are being so brave, but I need you to keep fighting. I'm coming for you but I need you to stay strong. I don't know how long until I find you but I won't stop until I do." Jim prepared himself before he asked the next question, "Mel has he _touched _you?"

Melinda was about to answer when David ripped the phone out of her hand.

"NO PLEASE! Not yet…." Melinda cried.

"Time is running out Jim." David growled into the phone. It agitated him that Jim was taking so long to simply tell her that he doesn't love her.

"Please I told you that I needed to break it to her easily," Jim lied.

"You've had enough time, tell her now." David yelled as he threw the phone back at Melinda.

Melinda quickly put the phone back up to her ear, "Jim…i-is it true."

"Mel baby I need you to play along with me ok…I need you to pretend like I am telling you that I don't love you…but baby, it's _not true_…I promise you, I love you more than life itself."

"What do you mean?"

"Mel, he wants me to tell you that I don't love you…that I never have, if he finds out that I am not telling you this then he is going to hurt you again. Baby I can't handle that."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Melinda questioned along with the game.

"Baby I love you, God I love you so much. Please don't give up on me yet baby, I'm coming for you and I will find you." Jim cried into the phone.

"I'm sorry Jim, but I can't do this." Melinda stated.

"What?" Jim was confused what she was talking about.

"Jim don't be mad at me but I can't. I've fought this entire time for our love, I'm not going to pretend that you don't love me. JIM, I LOVE YOU!" Melinda stated proudly.

"Melinda no, baby! He's going to hurt you!" Jim tried desperately to change her mind but it was useless.

"I love you and I always will!" she cried. "Ji-" Just then the man violently ripped the phone from her hands.

"What the hell Jim? You wife is going to pay for this! How dare you!" David yelled into the phone.

"No please I tried to tell her but she wouldn't listen to me! Please don't hurt her. I can make her understand! PLEASE!" Jim begged he would do anything to keep Melinda safe.

"To late Jim, I hope you had fun talking to your wife, because it will be the last time you ever talk to her again! David yelled before he hung up the phone.

"NO! NO PLEASE!" Jim screamed! "God damn-it! MELINDA!" Jim put his head in his hands and cried. He was furious that the man who took her would hurt Melinda, yet he was so proud that she was fighting for him and their love. He knew that she would stay strong for him, he just needed to stay strong for her. He needed to find her fast. He knew that what she just did was going to piss the man who took her off. He had to find her before it was too late.

Just then Jim felt someone put their hand on his shoulder. "Jim, are ok?"

Jim looked up to see Detective Marshal standing next to him. "She called me."

"Melinda?" Detective Marshal questioned, "Jim, what happened?"

"Yes, she called me but the man who took her took the phone from her and told me that I needed to help him. He told me that I needed to make Mel understand that I don't love her."

"What?" Detective Marshal was confused as to what this lunatic wanted. "Jim come with me you need to make a statement."

Jim stood up, "No I need to find my wife!"

"Jim that's what we are trying to do, we need you to tell us everything about this phone call so we can find her."

"I'm sorry detective but my wife is out there being hurt as we speak and you want me to come sit and talk with you? I'm sorry I can't do that."

"Jim please the man who took her may have told you something that will let us know who he is." Detective Marshal looked Jim in the eyes. "Please Jim, we won't go to the station, we will simply record you telling us what happened during the phone call here, then you and I will take a walk to the basement where I will walk you through what I know."

Jim simply looked at the detective, "How bad is it?"

The detective put his hand on Jim's shoulder, "It's not good."

Jim put his head down, but nodded in understanding.

"Please stop…..Please." Melinda begged as David hit her one last time. He was furious about what happened when Jim talked to her, it hadn't gone at all like he had planned.

"AHHHHHHHH!" David yelled out in frustration. David grabber her roughly by the shoulders and pulled her up so she was looking him square in the face, "YOU WILL LOVE ME!" David spit at her before throwing her back on the ground and storming up the stairs and out of the basement.

Melinda curled up in a ball and started to cry. Talking to Jim was hard for her. Hearing his voice again made her miss him even more. It made her want to get out of this hell she was trapped in. All she wanted was to go home. She wanted to be surrounded by the man who loved her, she wanted him to hold her and tell her he loved her. She wanted to feel Jim again. She wanted to be able to touch his face and look into those blue eyes of his and see nothing but love and desire for her. She needed to be with him. At least she was sure that he loved her. Deep down she always knew he did but it was hard to believe yourself when you are constantly told differently, especially when it is being said with violence. It makes you question everything you know. Melinda didn't question it any more though, she knew it was true. She had to keep fighting, she had to stay strong. Jim would find her.

_**Please, tell me what you think! All you have to do it press the button and tell me! It is so much easier to write when you received reviews! So please help me out and review! Love you all! **_


	19. Questions Answered

_**Wow! Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! You guys are amazing! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write my last chapter but thank you to everyone who stuck around and waited. It really means a lot to me that you guys are still here and ready for more! You guys are amazing! **_

_**Here is the new chapter! I hope you guys like it! Please when you are through reading it…let me know what you think! It's so much fun to write for you guys! Enjoy! **_

Jim had just finished giving his statement. He told the detective and his officers everything that happened. When he was done he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder again, "Come on Jim," Detective Marshal, "It's time that you got some questions answered."

Jim looked up at the detective and nodded. They both walked into the house and Detective Marshall stopped at the door before they went in, "Jim are you sure you want to do this?"

Jim looked Detective Marshal, "Yes, I need to know."

Detective Marshal nodded in understanding before opening the door and following Jim into the basement.

Jim cringed when he looked around and noticed all the blood that was on the floor. While down here earlier, he didn't fully grasp just how much blood there was. He looked at Detective Marshal, begging for answers. The detective sighed before beginning, "Jim this isn't going to be easy, if at any time you've heard enough or it becomes too hard for you just let me know and I will stop."

Jim nodded before looking around the basement yet again. To be completely honest, he was absolutely terrified to hear what the detectives had found, he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it. But he had to know, he needed to understand what Melinda was going through, what this man was doing to her.

The detective motioned Jim to join him in the middle of the room where the hook was. Jim walked over cautiously, trying to avoid the blood and police markers. "Alright Jim, as you can see, there is a lot of blood here…from the looks of it we are assuming that all of it is your wife's." The detective paused for a second while Jim scanned the room, looking at all of the spots of blood. "We have taken samples of each different area of blood hoping to find something. In cases like your wife's, we will test every sample we get just in case one belongs to the unknown attacker. I'm not guaranteeing anything, I'm just giving you the facts. If one of the samples comes back telling us it's not your wife's, then we will run it through our data base, and hopefully, it will lead us to where your wife is."

Jim looked at the detective, signaling him to continue. "Jim, it looks like Melinda was beaten on a couple different occasions."

Jim took a slow deep breath as he pinched the rim of his nose, "How can you tell?" He asked as he looked back at Detective Marshal.

"Because of the placement of the blood." The detective walked over to one area of blood. "By the looks of it one beating took place here." The detective knelt down next to the spots of blood and pointed at one spot. "We think that she was thrown down here, after or during the beating. Do you see how the blood is smeared?"

Jim, had already walked over with Detective Marshal, and was now kneeling down with him, looking at the smear mark he was talking about. "So you think she was on the ground while he-he…umm hit her?" This was a hard question for Jim to ask. He was trying to remain calm but he wanted to rip this man to shreds. Even though he was already dead, he still wanted to settle the score with him. And he still felt guilty, he felt responsible for putting Melinda in this situation.

The detective nodded his head, "Yes…that is what we believe." The detective paused for a moment, allowing Jim to take in everything he had told him. He also wanted to make sure Jim was ready to move on to the rest. "Jim there's more…"

Jim looked up at the detective then stood up and followed him over to the next spot. The detective pointed to spot of mud on the floor, the mud was molded into a shoe imprint, like someone had walked in the mud then left tracks throughout the basement. "Here is where we believe the other attack took place, as you can see from the spots of blood. Jim do you see this streak of mud right here?" The detective asked as he pointed to another area of mud right next to the first one.

"Yes…" Jim didn't understand what was so important about the mud.

"As you can see here, the blood is smeared again like before…meaning that Melinda was again lying on the flood." Jim noticed that the smeared blood was right next to the shoe impressions. Jim could picture Melinda laying on the ground, probably curled up in a ball to protect herself, while this lunatic was towering over her. It killed him inside to know that she was hurting and that he couldn't be there to help her.

"Jim, we think that he stood here," the detective explained while pointing to the first shoe impression, "and…he umm…Jim he kicked her." Jim tightened his jaw as his hands balled up into a fist, while he looked at the marks on the floor. "We don't know how many times but there are at least 4 or 5 different scuff marks from where his boot scuffed the ground while kicking her….Jim I'm sorry, we can stop if you need us too." The detective knew that this had to be hard on Jim but he also admired him at the same time. It took a lot to have every account of your wife being beat played out in front of you. The detective wasn't sure if he would be strong enough to do it.

"No…I'm fine." Jim replied. In all honesty he wasn't fine, hearing all of the details was breaking his heart. He vowed to protect her and so far he had failed. How could he break that kind of promise? What kind of a husband was he? Little did he know, he was about to hear the one detail that would tear him up inside, that would literally bring tears to his eyes.

There were two more areas that the detective needed to show Jim, but he wanted to make sure that one area was last. He knew that as soon as Jim heard what happened there that he wouldn't want to hear anything else. How could he after getting that kind of news. So he walked over to the stairs. "Jim we think that Melinda tried to make a run for it. We don't know if it was from Damon or from her other attacker, but we do know that she didn't make it very far. There are two different areas of blood on the stairs. Given your wife's height, we assume that one is from her knees and the other is from possibly her face hitting the stairs. We think she was tripped up as she was running up the stairs. We also found an empty syringe towards the top of the stairs. We don't know yet what was in it, we are testing that now, but we do know that it is now empty. We are assuming that he injected your wife with something." All Jim could do was nod, it was a lot of information to take in. He couldn't believe that after everything she has gone through that she is still fighting. She was fighting for them, and he knew that he had to work harder to find her.

"Jim I know that this looks like a lot, but your wife actually hasn't lost that much blood. When I first walked in here I assumed there would be more then this. In most cases, when the victim of a beating is found there is normally more blood then this. I know this probably doesn't mean much to you right now after hearing everything I have told you but from the looks of it, your wife still has a lot of fight left in her. From the looks of it she is a very strong woman."

Jim smiled at the thought of how strong Melinda really was. He witnessed her go through things that would tear most people apart, but Melinda was strong and made it through them. She never gave up no matter what. He's seen her fight for her life before, like when she fell into a coma after falling in the woods, or when she was injured on top of the hill at the memorial saving those kids, or in the tunnels when she was trapped underground. He knows that she will continue to fight now as well, "She is a very strong woman, stronger then you will ever know." Jim stated proudly.

"Come on Jim," the detective put his hand supportively on Jim's shoulder and led him over to the next area of blood. While walking, Jim noticed the area on the floor. It looked to him like something, or someone, had been dragged on the floor. The detective noticed Jim looking at the marks, "That's the area I wanted to talk to you about next. From what we can tell, Damon dragged your wife over to these poles." The detective explained as he walked over to the poles. Jim walked over as well and noticed chains that were at the bottom of each pole.

"What is this?" Jim asked.

"Jim I need you to put these on," The detective said as he handed Jim a pair of glasses.

"Why?" Jim asked as he put them on.

"I need to show you something." The detective responded as he grabbed his Poliray Forensic Light Gun. It's a gun that admits a ray of light that detects evidence, such as fibers, paint traces, blood stains, semen, and saliva. The detective turned it on and shined it over the area in the center of the poles.

Jim noticed many different areas light up, "What am I looking at?" Jim was confused as to what he was seeing.

The detective turned off the light and took off his glasses before looking at Jim, "Jim…the areas that you saw light up…that's semen. I'm sorry, from the what we can tell, we think he drug her over here, tied her up and then…" The detective looked at Jim as he broke down. "Jim, I'm so sorry."

A tear slowly made its way down Jim's cheek. _He raped her…he raped her…how could he hurt her like that? Where the hell was I? I should have been there for her…I should have saved her from that…_Jim thought to himself. He was breaking on the inside. He felt like a failure. He vowed to always be there for her, in sickness and in health, til death do them part, and he wasn't there for her. She was alone, scared and hurt because he couldn't protect her. It killed him inside to know that she was raped because he wasn't there. If only he had been home that morning, this wouldn't have happened. If only he had made it in time to save her. If only he was there. "This is all my fault…" Jim whispered as he squatted down, put his head in his hands.

The detective didn't know what to say. He didn't know Jim well enough to be able to comfort him, all he could do was put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on Jim, let's get you out of here."

"Please, can I have a minute alone?" Jim asked.

"Sure, I'll be outside." The detective patted his shoulder before making his way up the stairs and out the door.

Jim stood up and ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he was about to do this but he had to try. He would do anything to get Melinda back, even if that meant doing what he was about to do. "I don't know if you are here or not, but I need your help." Jim paused for a moment waiting to see if anything happened. "I don't know what else to do. Please I need to find my wife. Do you know where she is or who took her….."Jim paused again, waiting for anything to happen. "Please?" Still nothing happened.

Jim shook his head as he slowly walked up the stairs, "It was worth a try," he whispered. Once at the top of the stairs Jim reached out to grab the door knob as something happened. He turned around and looked at the poles as they started to shake. He slowly made his way back down the stairs and over to the poles. Once he reached them they stopped moving. Jim didn't understand what the ghost wanted him to see. He slowly looked at each of the poles, trying desperately to see any kind of a clue. But he couldn't find anything, he turned around and was about to ask what the ghost meant when suddenly he heard something rolling across the floor. He looked down to see a ball that had been sitting in the corner of the basement rolling over to where Jim was. He watched it carefully to see what it was doing and where it was going.

Suddenly the ball bumped into the bottom of one of the poles. Jim looked at it curiously as it bumped into it again, and again, and again. Jim then knelt down and looked at the bottom of the pole. "Do you want me to look down here?" Jim asked as he looked at the pole again, then he noticed something, "Hendrick's Steal Company?" Jim asked as he rubbed his fingers over the writing. He didn't understand what it meant. "I don't understand what this means. I know that Damon worked for this company but what does that have to do with my wife?" Jim asked out loud.

The ball bounced back and forth again. Jim knew that it had to mean something but he didn't understand what. Damon worked for Hendrick's Steal Company, he already knew that, but why would the ghost show him that if it wasn't important. He would look more into it at home. Maybe he missed something earlier. Jim slowly made his one back up the stairs one last time, once at the top he turned around again to look at the room before whispering, "thank you," as he left.

The ghost looked up to him as he was leaving, "Good luck and I'm sorry."

_**Ok guys! Tell me what you think! Please, Please, PLEASE review and tell me what you think. Things are going to start getting interesting…will Jim be able to figure it out. What will happen to Melinda if she continues to disobey David? You guys will find out soon. **_


	20. What do we do next?

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. Words can't even describe how much it means to me that you guys are reading my story and liking it! Please keep the reviews coming, they are what keep me writing! I love to hear what you guys think!**

**Here is the next chapter….hope you enjoy! This chapter is kind of a filler chapter for what is to come…I wanted to write more but didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer so this will get some different ideas running through your head to keep you interested before the next chapter comes. See if you can maybe guess what will happen next. Lots of stuff about to happen soon! **

**K enough talking….enjoy!**

Melinda was passed out on the floor of the basement. David showed absolutely no mercy when he came back down and beat her for a second time. He was furious that she wouldn't love him. If she wouldn't love him then his plan was to make her love him. He would give her one choice, she would love him, or she could die. Melinda was in really bad shape after the multiple beatings she had endured in the past two days. She had cuts and bruises all over her body. So far she had been able to protect her unborn child but she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to. She couldn't be sure but she was pretty sure she had a few broken ribs and possibly a sprained ankle, and a broken wrist, along with multiple other injuries. She was becoming weaker and weaker as time went on. She had yet been given any kind of food or water.

David was upstairs pacing back and forth. He was thinking of any possible way to get Melinda to understand that he was the love of her life. He needed to figure out how to get her to stop thinking of Jim and to start realizing that he was the man for her. He didn't know how to get through to her. He walked to the fridge and grabbed one of many beers to clear his head.

Jim was in the back of the police car with Detective Marshal, they were driving back from Damon's house. Jim was staring out the window thinking about Melinda and what she must be going through.

"Jim do you want us to drop you off at your house?" Detective Marshal asked. He could see how out of it Jim was.

Jim pulled his attention away from his thoughts long enough to answer the detective. "No, my car is at the station. I'll drive myself home." He replied quickly before looking back out the window.

It wasn't long before they reached the police station. Jim walked in with Detective Marshal and into his office.

Detective Marshal sat down at his desk and noticed Jim, "So what do we do next?" Jim questioned as he closed the door behind him.

"Jim I have all my best men working your wife's case, right now I need you to go home and wait. I will call you as soon as I know anything."

"I can't just sit and wait for something to happen." Jim said as he paced back and forth. "What if you guys are too late? I can help you!"

"I know you can Jim, but right now there's nothing you can do that we aren't already doing. Look I know it's difficult but I need you to go home. Get some sleep, I promise I will call you when I hear anything."

"I can't sleep, not without her! I can't relax until she is safe. Whenever I close my eyes, I relive everything over and over again. I hear her words, I see her being hurt, I see me failing her. I won't rest until I find her!" Jim said as he turned around and walked out of Detective Marshal's office and out of the police station. Jim got to his truck and drove home. On the way he called Delia.

"Jim, have you heard anything yet?" Delia asked as soon as she answered the phone.

"Hey Dee, a lots happened, can you come by?" Jim asked. His plan was to try and figure out what the ghost was trying to tell him. The fastest way to do that was to have Delia helping him. "I'll explain everything when you get here but I need a second pair of eyes."

"Yeah I'm on my way. Ned just got home, how much help are you going to need?" Delia asked, she knew as well as Jim did that the more eyes they had, the faster they would find things.

"I need all the help I can get." Jim sighed.

"Alright Jim, we're on our way." Delia said as she grabbed her car keys.

"Thanks Dee," Jim mumbled before hanging up the phone. He couldn't help but think about what the ghost showed him. It simply didn't make any sense to him. He sped home as fast as he could and immediately started to look for answers.

Melinda began to wake up, she had passed out for roughly 3 hours. She sat up gingerly because she was so sore, she winced in pain as she did so. She was startled when she noticed Riley was there with her.

"Melinda…what are you doing?" Melinda looked up from where she was sitting to see Riley standing in the corner. "Melinda, I warned you that you can't fight him. You HAVE to do what he says. He will only allow you to be in denial for so long before he loses it!"

"Riley, I can't. I can't pretend that I don't love Jim. I can't pretend that I love David, I just can't. Jim will find me and he will save me!"

"Melinda, Jim won't be able to find you. He doesn't know where you are….no one does. If you continue to fight then you will only end up like me. Melinda please listen to me. You have to do what he says." Riley begged, she hoped that she could get Melinda to understand before it was too late.

"Jim may not be able to find me on his own but with your help…he might be able to find me in time." Melinda looked Riley in the eyes, "Please Riley, I need your help."

Riley wrinkled her forehead in confusion, "How can I tell your husband where you are if he can't see me?"

"Riley my husband and I have been married for 3 years now. He understands what I do better than anyone else. If you can give him a sign he will know what to do. Please Riley, you have to try. This could be my only chance." A tear rolled down Melinda's face as she talked, she quickly wiped it away before she continued. "Riley, please?"

"I will try." Riley whispered.

"Thank you Riley, please hurry." Melinda quickly added before Riley disappeared. Melinda wiped the remaining tears as she looked around the basement. She hadn't really had any time to look around the basement. Her entire time down here had been spent either being beaten, crying or sleeping. She searched high and low, looking desperately for anything that could help her, any way for her to possibly escape. She was just about to give up when something shiny caught her eye in the corner of the room. She stood up, careful not to agitate any of her injuries, and walked over to the object. The ropes that were binding her wouldn't allow her to go far enough so she had to sit and use her feet to slide the object towards her. She couldn't help but feel excited when she saw what it was…it was a knife, a hunter's knife by the looks of it. She immediately slid it even closer to her and picked it up, she tested it to see if it was sharp or dull; it was definitely sharp. Just then she heard David walking towards the door, she immediately slid back over to where she was originally and placed the knife underneath her to hide it. _I'm fighting baby….I'm fighting!_ She thought to herself.

It didn't take Jim long to get home, he hadn't necessarily obeyed all the speed limit signs. Jim was sitting on the couch working on Melinda's laptop when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in." He shouted from where he was sitting.

Delia and Ned walked in the door. Ned had brought his laptop along with him just in case.

Jim looked over his shoulder towards the door as they walked in, "Hey guys thanks for coming."

Delia sat down next to Jim and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Are you doing ok?" She asked him.

Jim sighed and hugged her back before pulling out and continuing his search on the computer. "No, I'm not doing ok. She's been gone for almost two days now. I need to find her."

Delia nodded in understanding. "What happened at that house? Why wasn't she there?" Delia asked.

Jim quickly walked both Delia and Ned through everything that had happened. He told them about Damon, about the basement, about Melinda calling him and about the ghost.

"Wait so a ghost showed you the label on the pipe?" Ned asked. "But mom said that you guys already looked at the company, that's how you found Damon. Right?"

"Right, but I think the ghost is trying to tell me that we missed something." Jim explained as he searched on the computer again. He quickly typed in Hendrick's Steal Company into the search engine and waited for their website to pop up. Once it did he looked at everything he could think of, he looked at the employees, he looked at their customers, he even looked at their sponsors, but he didn't know what he was looking for so it was impossible for him to know if he found what he needed.

Just then Riley appeared next to Jim and looked around at all of Melinda's friends who were desperately trying to find her. She knew that she had to help her.

Suddenly the stack of papers that were on the coffee table by Jim flew onto the floor. Delia gasped in shock, while Jim stood up and waited to see what would happen next, but nothing happened. Riley successfully got their attention but didn't know what to do next.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Jim asked as he looked around the room anxiously for the ghost to help him out. "Please, do you know where my wife is?"

Riley simply looked at Jim in amazement. Melinda was right, he really did understand what she did. She had to figure out how to show him where she was. Suddenly she knew what she had to do.

"Please, can you help us?" Jim asked again. He was becoming desperate, he didn't know where else to look and he hoped that this ghost could help him.

**PLEASE REVIEW! It's amazing to read what you guys have to say! Oh and this story still has a lot of action to come! I know that this chapter didn't really have all that much stuff happening but the next chapter will! I can promise you that! It might take me a while to update but I will go as fast as I can! **

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW!**


	21. Riley Helps!

_**Ok you guys must hate me as a writer because I'm always making you wait forever for the next chapter…I'm sorry. **_

_**Anyways…here is the next chapter…a lot actually happens in this chapter. I think you guys are going to like it. This chapter starts off all of the really exciting ones. Hope you guys are ready for a great ride! I will try to post again soon but no guarantees. **_

_**When you guys are done reading it please let me know what you think! I love to hear from you guys! Love you all!**_

_Previously on Taken…_

_Riley simply looked at Jim in amazement. Melinda was right, he really did understand what she did. She had to figure out how to show him where she was. Suddenly she knew what she had to do. _

"_Please, can you help us?" Jim asked again. He was becoming desperate, he didn't know where else to look and he hoped that this ghost could help him. _

Riley walked over to a picture of Jim and Melinda and used her energy to make it shake…Jim noticed the picture and walked over to it. He picked it up and smiled, it was a picture of them at their wedding. They were dancing and so happy. A tear started to form in Jim's eye. "You know where my wife is?" Jim asked. Riley moved to another picture and made it shake. This time it was a picture that Jim had taken of Melinda. Melinda was sitting on their favorite bench waiting for Jim so they could go to lunch. Jim called her name and snapped the picture as she looked at him and smiled. It was his favorite picture of her. Jim knew that the ghost knew Melinda and where she was. "Please, do you know where she is?"

Riley thought for a moment but then got an idea. She went to the computer and noticed that Jim was looking at the employees for Hendrick's Steal Company, "he is so close." Riley thought to herself. Again she used her energy to make the computer screen shake, Jim walked over and sat down on the couch to look at the screen. He saw that Hendrick's Steal Company was still on the screen. "What does this mean? I already know that Damon worked for this company but I don't understand why you are showing me this. You've already showed it to me once and I didn't find anything."

Riley looked at Jim with a confused look on her face. "I didn't show you anything? What are you talking about?" Riley didn't understand what Jim was talking about, this was the first time that she had met him. She shook it off though and looked around to see how she could explain this to him.

Jim suddenly had an idea of how he could communicate better with this ghost. He instantly started doing something on the computer, "Wait, here…will this help you?" He asked as he opened up Microsoft Word on his computer.

Riley looked at the computer, she didn't know how to put her energy into the computer, but she knew that she could use her energy to type. So she focused her energy on the computer and typed…

B O S S

Jim looked at the computer screen as he said the word out loud, "Boss?" Jim didn't understand what that meant. "Boss?" he repeated again, he thought of every possibility. What did it mean? "I don't understand, what does boss mean?" Jim asked. Riley sighed as she thought again. She had to think quick because she was getting weak, she didn't have anyone's energy to feed off of here, so she could only last for about one more word.

Delia and Ned watched in amazement as Jim and this ghost communicated. Delia couldn't believe her eyes, she had seen Mel talk with spirits all the time and she knew that Jim helped on occasion but she never imagined that Jim knew so much. Melinda would always tell Delia about how much Jim understood her gift and truly accepted it and was amazed by it, but Delia never fully believed her. She didn't understand how Jim could understand and fully accept something so complex. But watching him now, communicate with this ghost, in order to save Mel, she saw it. Jim wasn't confused or lost, he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew exactly how to talk to this spirit. It amazed Delia because if she were in his shoes, she knew that she wouldn't know what to do. She had always admired what Jim and Mel had, but this just made her admire them more.

Riley managed to type in one last message…

D A V I D H

And with that Riley was gone. She was too weak, she did everything she could. Now she knew she had to go back to Melinda. Tell her what she had told her husband and hope that it had worked. If not, then she would try again.

"David H?" Jim asked out loud again. "Who is David H?" Jim waited for the ghost to tell him something else but nothing was happening. "Please….who is David H? and what does boss mean?" Jim begged, hoping that the ghost was still here but he knew that it had probably left. Mel had told him that many times ghosts lose energy quickly when they are trying to communicate with the living. That they can only last so long, before they will leave, but they almost always come back. Jim sighed in frustration as he began to type away at the computer.

"Is it gone?" Ned asked as he looked around the room for any more signs.

"I think so." Jim sighed again.

"Wait what do you mean gone, it just vanished just like that? But it didn't help us." Delia said in confusion.

"Mel told me how the spirits can only last for so long. They exist on energy and when their energy is gone then they get weak and have to leave." Jim explained.

"But they always seem to come back right?" Delia asked.

Ned nodded, "Yeah, eventually."

"So all we have to do now is wait for it to come back, right?" Delia asked.

"No, we need to try and figure out what the clues mean." Jim responded.

Delia was confused, "Why don't we just wait for it to come back?"

Ned took over this explanation, he knew that Jim was frantically trying to figure things out and didn't need anyone interrupting him. "Because we never know how long it will take for the ghost to come back. Sometimes it can be within a few hours, other times it can take days…"

"And we don't have days to waste." Jim added, "Melinda needs us now, so we need to try and figure out these clues as fast as we can. This ghost came to us for a reason, the answer is right in front of us we just need to figure it out."

"Alright where do we start?" Delia wasn't sure if she would ever fully understand the ghost world and how they exist but that didn't matter right now. Melinda was all that mattered.

"First of all, let's look at everything we have." Jim started, "The ghost back at the house showed me the Hendrick's Steal Company pole, so we need to look at that company again."

"Next we have the ghost writing the word boss on the screen, followed by the name David H." Ned added. "Do we have anything else?"

"No that's all we have been given." Delia sighed.

"Ok so we need to look at the company employees again right?" Ned asked.

"Right, But I've already looked at all of the employees and didn't see anything that stood out to me…."Jim sat back and looked at the screen, suddenly he understood. "Wait! That's it!" Jim exclaimed as he sat up and started typing something on the computer.

"Jim what is it?" Delia and Ned asked in unison.

"How could I have missed that?" Jim asked himself.

"Jim, please can you fill us in?" Delia asked again.

"The boss! The ghost told us the boss, I think it might be the boss of the company, like the owner. Hendrick's Steal Company….David H….it makes perfect sense." Jim spat out as he was frantically looking for information about the owner of the business.

Delia and Ned were still confused. "Jim, I'm still lost, how does David H and Hendricks Steal Company make sense?"

Jim took a deep breath before explaining. "I think that David H is really David Hendricks, the owner and boss of Hendrick's Steal Company. I think the ghost is trying to tell me that he is the one who took Mel." Jim explained, suddenly he found what he was looking for. There was a bio and picture of David Hendricks. "Oh my god." Jim was speechless.

Delia noticed the sudden change in his behavior and walked over to look at the computer. She couldn't believe what she saw, there was David Hendricks but it was almost like she was looking at a picture of Jim. "Jim he looks just like you."

"It…it all makes sense now." Jim mumbled.

Ned had been pacing back and forth now stopped and sat down in the chair next to his mom and Jim. "What makes sense?" He asked.

"When Mel and I ran into Damon at the lake he told me that I was the one who took his wife. When I told him it wasn't me he didn't believe me. He didn't believe me because I looked exactly like the man who took his wife, meaning…"Jim couldn't finish, he took a deep shaky breath before running his hand through his hair. Jim looked again at the picture of Melinda he had next to him, a tear came to his eye as he remembered all the things Damon accused him of doing.

**Because you took away the love of my life, you kidnapped her and then**

**raped and beat her until she was too weak to live…You killed her.**

**You killed her…**

**You killed her…**

**You killed her…**

Those last words echoed in Jim's ear. The thought of Mel possibly dying made him want to die himself. He had to find her and get her away from this creep before it was too late.

"Jim….Jim?" Delia pulled Jim out of his thoughts.

Jim looked up to Delia, he saw how confused both she and Ned were. "Damon took Mel because he thought that I hurt his wife. I didn't though, David H did. Now David has Melinda. Damon told me how David took his wife and beat her and raped her repeatedly until he finally….finally….killed her."

Delia and Ned both had looks of terror on their faces. "Jim, are you sure?"

"Yeah it all fits. God I have to find her!" Jim said as he started searching the computer again.

"What are you doing?" Ned asked.

"I'm going to find out where this guy lives. Delia, can you go see Detective Marshal and tell him what we found?" Jim didn't even look away from the computer, he kept his eyes fixated on the screen.

"What are you going to do?" Delia asked, fearing what his answer would be.

"I'm going to find my wife," Jim said as he jotted something down then stood up and walked towards the door. He grabbed his keys off the counter and his jacket off of the coat rack.

"Jim wait, come with me to the police, then we will all go get Mel." Delia suggested.

Jim glanced back over his shoulder, "Delia I can't wait that long." And with that he was gone, leaving Delia and Ned standing in the living room now worrying about both of their friends.

_**Alright guys…you know the drill! Review and tell me what you think! Let me know if you like it or if you hate it! Please I love to hear what you guys think!**_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW! **_

_**REVIEW! **_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW! REVIEW! **_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**!**_


	22. Do you still like knives?

**You guys are absolutely amazing! You are what keep me writing! It's so much more fun to write when you know you have people who are reading your story and actually liking it. When I first started to write this story I never thought so many people would like it! But you guys keep coming back for more! So here it is! I hope you like it! **

**I warn you though! This chapter isn't pretty…lots of violence! All I can say is poor Melinda…**

**Please when you are done, let me know what you think! **

**Enjoy! **

The door flew open as David stumbled in and down the stairs. He staggered over to where Melinda was chained up. He leaned down to her and tried to kiss her. Melinda pulled away in disgust. David looked down at her and smiled. He pulled her in close before he whispered, "Come on my love, stop fighting it. I know, deep down you really love me. I think it's cute that you're playing hard to get."

Melinda wanted to gag when she smelled his vile breath, he was definitely drunk! She opened her mouth to say something but was cut short when he pulled her in for a kiss. Melinda put her chained hands on his chest and pushed him off of her. "GET OFF OF ME! I don't like you and I NEVER will!" She yelled. She knew that was a bad idea but she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't love him! How could she? She loved Jim and she didn't care what the consequences were, she was going to continue to fight for their love.

David glared at her, "YOU WILL LOVE ME!" He yelled before he grabbed her head and forced her to kiss him again. Melinda tried to push him off of her but he held on tighter and wouldn't let her. He plunged his tongue deeper and deeper into her mouth, Melinda had enough and bit down hard. David pulled back in agony, "You fucking bitch!" He yelled as he spit blood out of his mouth. David moved away from Melinda and tried to stop the bleeding. He was so preoccupied with his tongue and the blood in his mouth that he didn't notice Melinda. She took this as her chance to attack, she grabbed the knife that she had hidden beneath her and held it in her shaking hands. She didn't know why she was shaking so much, she couldn't tell if it was because she was scared or if she was simply weak from not eating since she was taken. She tried to steady her hands but she couldn't, David was still kneeled over spitting out blood when Melinda held up the knife.

Melinda slashed his back with the knife. David arched his back in agony, he hadn't yet realized what had happened, only that there was a shooting pain in his back. He turned around to face Melinda, she panicked and lunged at him again with the knife, by this point, David realized what was happening and was able to dodge the deadly attack. He then took the opportunity to grab her by the wrist and pry the knife from her hands.

"You bitch!" he yelled as he back handed her across the face, causing her to scream and fall to the floor. David gingerly maneuvered himself so he could get a better look at his back. What he saw threw him over the edge, there was a huge gash that ran from his left hip up to his right shoulder. "You are going to pay for this. He fumed as he stormed up the stairs, leaving the door wide open. Melinda shivered in fear, she knew he was coming back. Sure enough David stormed back through the door within minutes with pure hatred showing in his eyes. He made it to the bottom of the stairs and sank down where the hook that was holding Melinda to the ground was located. He unhooked her and drug her like a dog. Melinda tried frantically to stand up but when she did he ripped the chains causing her to fall down. "You don't get to walk bitch!" He yelled. He pulled her all the way over to the poles and kicked her hard in the face, Melinda screamed in agony as she tried to fight the blackness that was threatening to overtake her, she failed miserable though and blacked out within seconds.

Jim was breaking every speed limit sign he passed as he sped down the highway, and to be completely honest, he could care less. All that mattered to him was getting to Melinda. She had been gone now for three days, but to him it seemed like a lifetime. He couldn't sleep, not when he knew that she was out there hurting and alone. Jim looked down at the address he had gotten off of the internet again. As soon as he left the house he instantly plugged it into the GPS in his car. Jim took off as soon as the route was set, approximately 45 minutes away. Jim looked down at the GPS for the 100th time and sighed, 30 minutes away. He floored it and sped down the road even faster than before.

"I'm coming baby, hold on." He whispered to himself.

"Fucking bitch, how dare you?" David growled as he tied Melinda up. "You are going to pay for that one!" He yelled as he slapped her roughly across the face. Melinda was still unconscious, but was starting to come to. She woke up to find David standing right in front of her, she was in a standing position with her back against a wall and noticed that he had managed to chain her up to the poles. A single tear burned its way down her cheek.

David glared at her and slapped her across the face again. "You bitch! What were you planning on doing? HUH? KILL ME?" he screamed, his face now inches away from Melinda's, "THEN WHAT? WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO THEN?"

Melinda looked away in fear.

"ANSWER ME! WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO?" He yelled as he grabbed a handful of her hair and made her look at him.

Melinda didn't answer, she didn't know what to say. What was she thinking? After she hurt him, then what? She was still tied up? She couldn't go anywhere? The best thing she could do was wait for someone to find her and save her. But what if they never did? _What were you thinking Melinda?_ She asked herself.

"OBVIOUSLY YOU DIDN'T THINK THIS ONE THROUGH MELINDA!" He yelled as he pulled the knife out of his back pocket and held it up to her throat.

Melinda gasped in fear as he pushed the knife roughly against her skin.

"So…you like playing with knives huh?" David asked mockingly. "Do you think they are fun? Do you know they can hurt people?" He took this as his cue to push the knife even harder against her neck, breaking the skin and cutting her.

Melinda screamed but didn't move, she knew that if she did, she would only be making things worse. David slid the knife across her neck, leaving a trail of blood along the way. Melinda cried out in pain and tried to pull away it was no use, he had her pinned against the wall.

"Please….ugh….please stop, I'm sorry." Melinda yelled out in desperation.

David glared at her and pulled the knife away only to slap her across the face again, "Shut up Melinda!" He yelled as he pinned her against the wall. "I should have done this a long time ago! But I thought you were different, I thought I wouldn't need to resort to this…but I guess I was wrong." He huffed as he ran his hands all over her body and breathed heavily in her ear, "Guess what Melinda? I like knives too…and I think it's time that you and I had a little fun."

Melinda cringed in fear, bracing herself for what was about to come. David then held the knife up to Melinda's arm and placed the blade against her arm. He drug the metal across her skin, cutting her again. Never deep enough to kill her but enough to cause excruciating pain. A blood curdling scream escaped Melinda's lips. There was nothing she could do to escape the torture she was forced to stand there while this lunatic carved her body. Melinda tried desperately to think of something, but it was no use, there was no escaping.

David then moved the knife down to her stomach, Melinda's heart skipped a beat as she prayed that he wouldn't cut deep enough to hurt her unborn child. David slid the knife over her stomach lightly, in a teasing manner. He slid it back and forth as Melinda held her breath. David grinned before he plunged the knife into her and drug it across her perfect skin again. Melinda tried to double over in pain but the chains wouldn't let her. David pulled the hair off of her sweating forehead and tucked it behind her ear as he whispered to her again, "So Melinda, tell me…Do we still like playing with knives?" Melinda couldn't speak, she was in so much pain that she couldn't think straight, she couldn't find the words to answer him. David had lost all patience and was infuriated when she didn't answer him, he lowered the knife to her leg and allowed this one to cut even deeper than before.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" Melinda screamed as her skin was literally being rip in two.

David stopped and asked her again. "Melinda, do we still like playing with knives?"

Melinda was trying to catch her breath, she was breathing deeply and sweating profusely, she used whatever strength she had left to slowly shake her head no.

David grinned as he slid the knife along her stomach again, this time allowing it to roam up her chest and back to her neck, he finally stopped when the cold metal was resting on her cheek, "Remember this next time you want to try something. Remember how it felt…" He said as he pushed the knife harder against her face, not hard enough to cut her though. "Remember this so we don't have to learn this lesson again."

Melinda closed her eyes as more tears escaped, she slowly nodded her head yes, to show him that she understood.

"Very good my dear…now" he said as he bent down and kissed her neck hungrily. His hands roamed her body and Melinda cringed when his hand passed by the gash on her stomach. Melinda tried to pull away from him but was too weak, after all the pain she just endured her body was starting to shut down. David's hands roamed from her stomach, to her chest where he slowly massaged her breasts, then he reached up and laced his fingers around her neck, he looked deeply in her eyes and tightened his grip as he spoke, "If you bite me again…I will fucking kill you! Do you understand?" he growled as he continued to choke her.

Melinda gasped for breath but managed to shake her head yes. David let go and Melinda tried to gasp for air again but that was cut short as David slammed into her for a kiss. He reached up and untied her hands and held them tightly between his hand as he reached down with the other to untie her feet. Melinda realized that the only thing holding her here was him, she knew that she shouldn't but she had a clear shot to the door and David was so furious last time he came down that he left the door open. Melinda knew she had to try, for Jim and for her. She used whatever strength she had left to rip her hands from his and run toward the stairs. David was taken aback by her sudden escape but was able to catch her easily. Within a few steps he had caught up to her and pushed her hard in the back, Melinda was thrown onto the concrete floor. David pushed his knee roughly into her chest, making it extremely difficult for Melinda to breathe.

"I see you are going to continue to be a problem, I can fix that!" He yelled as he pushed down harder with his knee. He grabbed the knife out of his back pocket and held it to Melinda's throat, the then pulled her up and spun her around so the knife was still against her throat but her back was against him and he was holding her hostage. He pulled her over to the chains again and tied her back up. He then left her alone while he climbed the stairs and disappeared, only to reappear a few minutes later with a needle in his hands.

Melinda looked at him in terror as she eyed the syringe. David descended the stairs and pulled her arm up to give him easy access to her vain. He then emptied the syringe into her before throwing it aside and watching in triumph. Melinda's head was spinning, she didn't know what he had just injected her with but she guessed it was something strong. There were vibrant colors flashing before her eyes, and she was struggling to think straight again. Suddenly she noticed that David was dragging her back over to the poles, only she couldn't move. She tried to pull her arms away from him but she was paralyzed. No matter how hard she tried to move her body wouldn't respond. Melinda also noticed that she couldn't feel anything. All the pain she felt earlier was gone, she could see David laying down on top of her but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel his hands roam her body and she couldn't feel what he was about to do to her. But to her, that was worse, she would rather feel it all, because at least the pain would remind her that she was alive.

When David was done, he stood up and zipped his pants back up. He looked down at Melinda and grinned as she lay there perfectly still just looking up at him. "It seems someone is learning how to behave," he chuckled. Melinda closed her eyes as the darkness took her. David pulled his shirt on and started to walk back up the stairs, he needed to clean and bandage his back. Once he reached the top of the stairs he heard Melinda mumble something, he listened carefully…

"Jim…..sa-ve m…me" she whimpered in her sleep. "pleasssssee."

David slammed his fist into the wall in frustration… "That's it!" he yelled. "If you won't stop thinking about Jim, then I will make you! I will bring him back here and kill him in front of you! Once he is gone then it will be just you and me! Nothing can stop us then!" he shouted as he turned and left the basement. He grabbed his car keys and headed for the door.

**Ok I know I'm evil. Please review and let me know what you think! You guys make it so much fun to write! Please keep me going and review this chapter! I promise this story isn't over yet! There's still a lot more to come! I hope you're ready! **


	23. Frustration

_**Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Your words mean so much to me! I would like to also thank those readers who have reviewed every chapter so far! I'm not going to mention names because you know who you are! I would just like to say that I absolutely love you guys and you are what make me love writing this story! So thank you again! **_

_**Ok Please don't hate me but this chapter was necessary. I know it seems like I keep running everyone in circles but this was necessary. Not much happens in this chapter but I promise the next one is HUGE!**_

_**Love ya!**_

Jim was driving as fast as he could, his truck wouldn't allow him to go any faster then what he was already going. Luckily for him, the majority of the drive was on country roads, meaning there weren't many people on the road to worry about. Jim had no idea where he was at all, all he knew was that he was going wherever his GPS told him to go.

30 minutes after rushing out of his house, he pulled up to what looked to be a deserted house. Jim wasted no time, he jumped out of his truck and crept up to the house. He peered through the windows and was relieved when there were no shutters blocking his view. From what he could see so far, no one appeared to be home. He quickly but quietly, made his way to the back of the house, he looked through another window, this time he was looking into the kitchen. Again, he saw no one. Jim had seen enough, it was starting to get dark outside and from what he could tell, there wasn't a light on in the entire house. He quickly crept to each window and frantically tried to open them.

With a frustrated sigh he moved away from the 7th window. So far all of them were locked, he only had one more window left to try. He prayed that this one would be open, all the doors were locked and there was no other way in. Of course he would break a window to get inside but he preferred not to have to. Jim walked up to the window and pushed upwards slowly and quietly. To his surprise it opened without a squeak. Jim released the air he didn't realize he was holding and quickly climbed inside.

Once inside, he was instantly taken aback by the vile smell that filled the entire house. He didn't know what it was and didn't really want to find out. All he cared about was finding Melinda and getting her out of this hell hold. Jim wasted no time at all, he immediately began searching the house for any sign of her. He checked every room, searching for the door to the basement. He finally found it, it was connected to the laundry room, which was attached to the kitchen. Jim opened the door and made his decent down the stairs.

"Melinda?" He whispered, he still wasn't 100% positive that the house was empty. "Mel? Baby…are you down her?" Jim's ears strained against the dead silence that filled the room, trying to find even the smallest whimper. "Melinda?" He whispered again. He searched every inch of the basement but Melinda was nowhere to be found. "Damn it!" He cursed in frustration. He hit a dead end, there was nowhere else to look. He had no idea where his wife was. He walked back upstairs and searched the kitchen, hoping to find some clue as to where he could have taken her. He wasn't going to give up. He promised her that he would never stop looking for her and that is exactly what he planned on doing. He would find her. No matter how long it took him, he was going to find her!

"No you are at the wrong house!" Riley sighed as a bowl of old apple sauce that was sitting on the counter suddenly flew off the counter and landed with a crash on the tile flooring, causing Jim to spin around in terror. His heart was racing and it took him a second to calm himself down as he noticed no one was there.

Riley bent over and began to write in the applesauce. Jim had a perplexed look on his face as he watched what was going on.

_**1217 W. Bishop St.**_

Jim wrote down the address and was out the door in seconds. He jumped in his truck and typed in the address.

_1217 W. Bishop St. estimated time for arrival…15 minutes._

"Hold on baby, I'm coming!" he whispered as he sped down the street again… "I'm coming…"

Jim pulled out his cell phone and called Delia.

"Jim?" Delia answered frantically.

"Dee, she wasn't at the house, but the ghost showed up and gave me an address, I think she is there. I'm on my way there now and should be there in a few minutes. I need you to call the cops and give them the address." Jim explained quickly.

"Alright Jim…hang on let me grab a pen….alright I'm ready." Delia said as she held the pen in her hand.

"1..7 W…st…B…op…st"

"Wait Jim you're breaking up, what was it again?"

"12…7…st….bis….beep…..beep" Jim looked down at the screen on his phone. It read NO SERVICE, he slammed the phone in desperation. "Shit!" he yelled. He knew that he should turn around and drive until his phone got signal again and call Delia back, but he couldn't, not when he was so close. She he put the phone back in his pocket and sped down the road.

_**Ok let me explain, this chapter was necessary because David isn't keeping Melinda at his home. Like Riley explained to Melinda in an earlier chapter, he was hiding her in a place that no one knew about. So it wouldn't make sense for Jim to find the address online, and rush in to save the day. But I promise you the next chapter will be HUGE and EXCITING! **_

_**Please review and tell me what you think! I absolutely love hearing from you guys! **_

_**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**_

_**Love ya!**_


	24. Real or not?

**Alright! Here it is! The chapter you guys have all been waiting for! I hope you guys like it! When you guys are done please let me know what you think! I absolutely love hearing from all of you! **

**I am leaving tomorrow to go camping and will be gone for the weekend but my goal is to update one more time before I leave. So hopefully that will be by tonight or tomorrow morning. But if there isn't a new one up by noon then I'm terribly sorry. **

**Enjoy!**

**Love you all! Kailey!**

Jim pulled up to a long driveway. He instantly turned off his lights and slowly continued on. He didn't want to make too much noise for fear of tipping off Melinda's attacker. Once he made it to the house he turned off the ignition and quietly opened the door. There were no lights on in the house at all. To be completely honest the house looked deserted. It was in complete ruins, broken windows, chipped paint and more. Jim made his way up to the front door and peaked through the dusty window. It looked like no one was home so he slowly turning the door knob and opened it slowly. It opened with a loud creak; he froze in his tracks, his ears straining to hear any hint of movement from inside. Once he was sure no one was there he opened the door all the way and cautiously made his way through the house. It was an absolute pig-sty on the inside. Beer bottles were scattered all over the living room and kitchen. There was old moldy food on the coffee table. There were dirty dishes piled up in the kitchen sink. And the stench was revolting. Jim opened door after door, trying to find the door to the basement.

After many failed attempts, he finally found the door he was looking for. When he opened it he noticed a stair case going down and he smelled the distinct sent of blood. His stomach churned as he instantly thought of Melinda. With his eyes already being accustomed to the darkness, Jim found no need to turn any lights on. He walked down the stairs slowly and was shocked to see that this basement looked identical to the last one. He frantically searched for Melinda.

"Melinda!" He whispered as he looked around. He found the hook in the center of the room and saw the chain attached to it. He followed the chain until the end but it was empty.

"Melinda?" He whispered again frantically. "Mel?" He then made his way fearfully over to the poles. That's when he saw her laying lifelessly on the floor, his heart sank as he remembered the first time he saw her.

…_._

"_No need for panic, it's a controlled fire, we have everything under control." Jim assured the victims of a recent apartment complex fire as he escorted them out of the building. He hurried them down the stairs and over to the yellow tape, but one of the women's slippers fell off as they were descending the stairs. Jim sighed as he bent down to pick it up, "Come on ma'am, we need to get you to where it's safe." He said as he bent down and grabbed her slipper for her and walked her over to the tape. _

"_I thought you said that there was nothing to worry about?" She asked in disbelief. _

"_We've got it taken care of."Jim smiled as he led her over to the tape. _

"_You know I can walk by myself." The woman huffed. _

_Jim lifted the tape for her to go under then tossed her slipper at her, "Stay here where it's safe." He said mater-of-factly as walked away and rolled his eyes. It had been a long night for him so far and he wasn't really in the mood for pleasantries. _

_Roughly two minutes had passed when suddenly someone was grabbing his shoulder. He turned around quickly to see who it was. He sighed when he noticed the woman again. "Ma'am you need to stay behind the yellow tape!" he explained as he pushed her back over. _

"_No wait! There's a man trapped in there!" _

"_No ma'am we got everyone out, there's no one left." Jim assured her as he pushed her towards the tape._

"_No! Please! You have to believe me!" She yelled as she looked up into his eyes. Jim stopped dead in his tracks as he saw it. So much determination, she really believed someone was in there. Jim knew he had to at least look… for her. He didn't know why but he felt something for her. He had never believed in love at first sight, but he also never experienced something like this before. He had butterflies in his stomach and he found it hard to breath. She literally took his breath away. Jim looked over his shoulder and saw one of his coworkers running by. "Hey Bobby! Come on!" Jim yelled as he looked back at the woman one last time. _

"_Where we going man?" Bobby asked as he followed behind Jim. _

"_Back in." Jim shouted behind him as he walked up the stairs of the building. _

"_Jim they already cleared everyone out!" Bobby yelled behind him._

"_Come on man, I'll owe you one." Jim said as he ran into the building…_

…_._

"Melinda!" Jim yelled as he rushed to her side. "Oh my god…" he cried as he neared her. He threw himself down on the floor and slid to a stop beside her. He automatically checked for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found one. He gathered her in his arms as he lovingly moved her hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear. He cupped her face as he talked to her, "Mel, baby wake up. Please I need you to wake up!" He cried. Melinda didn't move though. Jim quickly checked her over. "My god…" He sighed as he saw how extensive her injuries were. He saw the cuts from the knife, the bruises from the beatings, he noticed that she was skinnier and assumed she was probably dehydrated as well. He needed to get her out of here and fast. He placed his hand back on her cheek and rubbed circles on it with his thumb. "Mel, it's Jim, I need you to wake up. Baby I need to get you out of here." He cried desperately. He pulled her close to his body and held her close. "Mel baby please wake up."

Melinda began to regain consciousness. She noticed that someone was holding her and her mind instantly thought of Jim and how he used to hold her. He would hold her so close to his body, she loved how she could always hear his heart. The one that she held the key too, the one that was madly in love with her. She needed to feel his strong arms around her again, to know that she was safe and home, she was where she belonged. She needed him to sweep her off her feet just like he did everyday and rescue her from this hell she was trapped in. A tear fell down her cheek as she thought back to the time when she was truly happy, when she was with the man she loved and nothing could harm her. But then she remembered that wasn't the case anymore, she was trapped here and no one was here to save her. She broke away from her thoughts to look up at who was holding her. She instantly pushed away in disgust and fear.

Jim had noticed that she was beginning to stir and looked down lovingly at her but what he saw scared him. He saw fear and hatred in her eyes. He had seen that look before but never towards him. It broke his heart in two, he didn't know what he should do. Normally she had that look when she saw a ghost that scared her. That look would normally melt away as soon as she looked at Jim though. But this time, he was the one who caused that fear.

"No, no please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me." Melinda thrashed about in his arms, trying frantically to use whatever strength she had left to curl herself up in a ball. "Please…Please….I won't do it again I promise….please don't hurt me." Melinda whispered. "I'll do whatever you want."

Jim's heart crumpled. Tears were burning their way down his face and he listen to her plea for help. She was absolutely terrified. This lunatic destroyed her! Jim was furious, how could someone break someone so beautiful, strong and loving. Melinda was constantly putting others before herself, she was selfless and his hero in so many ways. But what he heard next killed him.

"Jim please hurry!" She whispered, almost to the point where she wouldn't be heard, silently praying to herself, but Jim heard her. Even after everything that she had been through she still held hope that he would save her. She still believed in him. He figured that she would have given up hope after the abuse she endured. He figured she would have given into the thought that he might not find her. He knew that nothing could break the love they had for each other and this proved it to him.

"Melinda, it's Jim I'm right here! Baby you're safe now!" Jim said as he held her even closer to him. But that didn't calm her down, it only made her fight harder. "No you're lying! Please let me go! I'm sorry!" Melinda cried hysterically.

"Mel, look at me…Baby look at me." Jim soothed her lovingly.

"No, I can't. I promise I won't do it again. Oh god…" She rambled as she clamped her eyes shut.

Jim placed both hands on either side of her face and lifted her head to look at him. "Mel, listen to me, it's Jim. I'm right here Mel, I got you!" Jim assured her. "Mel, I'm right here. It's Jim."

_Mel…he called me Mel…Jim? Is it really you? No it can't be…it's a trick. I know it is….don't fall for it Melinda…but, he called me Mel, only Jim calls me Mel… oh god I don't know what to do. _

"Mel." Jim said again.

_Jim? _Tears started to pour down her face. _Jim? _She thought to herself again.

Melinda slowly opened her eyes. What she saw terrified her, she saw David. She instantly clamped her eyes shut again and began to cry, she hoped so hard that it would be Jim. "No please just let me go."

But Jim wouldn't give up. "Mel, look at me. Baby…look in my eyes, see me! Mel see me!" Jim encouraged her. "Please Mel! Look at me…"

Melinda opened her eyes slowly again and looked deeply in his eyes, what she saw took her breath away. It was Jim! Her Jim, she saw those deep blue eyes that she fell in love with so many years ago. Those blue eyes that she would get lost in. Those blue eyes that reminded her that she was home."Jim?" Melinda asked in disbelief. She couldn't believe it! He was really here, everything was going to be ok now. He was going to take her away from here. "Jim…"she cried as she lifted her bloodied hands to his face. She slowly touched his cheek, trying to assure herself that he was really here, holding her in his arms.

Jim took one of his hands off her cheek to wipe the tears that were falling. "Yes Mel, it's me."

Melinda melted in his arms, Jim wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. "Shh baby I got you." Jim cried lovingly in her hair. Melinda clung to him for dear life, not wanting to ever let him go again. She tried desperately to pull him even closer to her but it was impossible. Jim kissed her on the top of her head as he stood up with her in his arms, "Come on babe, I need to get you out of here." Jim said as Melinda continued to cling to him.

Jim made it up the stairs and out of the house. Melinda breathed in the fresh air, she smiled softly to herself. It felt amazing against her skin. Jim unlocked the truck and laid Melinda gently down on the passenger seat. He buckled her in and shut the door behind him. He then ran over to the driver side door and opened it up.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and everything went black. The last thing he remember before passing out was hearing Melinda scream.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**Ok guys what do you think? I know I'm evil! I'm going to try and squeeze in one last update before I leave to go camping for the weekend! Hope you guys enjoyed it! **

**You guys know what to do! Let me know what you think!**

**REVIEW!**

**REVIEW!**

**REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**REVIEW!**

**!**


	25. Wait! I see it now!

**Ok guys here it is! I got it on before I left! Yay! I pray that you guys like it! I really wanted to get it done before I left so I'm sorry if there are some grammatical mistakes. I think I found all of them. I also left you guys with a very long chapter since I won't be writing for a while! **

**I really hope you guys like this chapter…it's a pretty big chapter! There's still more surprises ahead in this story! Hope you guys are ready for them! **

**Please let me know what you think when you are done reading it! I can't wait to see what you guys think! Love you all! **

**Enjoy!**

**Love, Kailey!**

_Previously on Taken…._

_Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and everything went black. The last thing he remember before passing out was hearing Melinda scream._

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

David towered over Jim with a shot gun in his hand. He had used the butt of it to knock Jim out cold. Melinda curled herself up in a ball and hid her face in her arms.

David reached down and grabbed Jim's arms, he glared up at Melinda, "Stay here! If you move I will kill him!" David threatened. Melinda lifted her head off her arms to look at him. "Is that understood?" He sneered. Melinda nodded her head as a tear slid down her cheek. David then drug Jim by his arms to the house.

Melinda watched in horror as David drug Jim up the steps and into the house. She wanted so badly to escape to run away and try and find help, but she knew David would kill Jim. She couldn't let that happen, she promised herself that Jim wouldn't get hurt because of her. She didn't dare move from where she was sitting for fear that David would accuse her of trying to escape and simply use that as an excuse to kill Jim. So she sat there, curled up in a ball, waiting for David to come back out.

David drug Jim through the house and down the stairs. He maneuvered him so it would be painful but not painful enough to cause serious damage, he wanted to be the one to do that. If he was going to win Melinda over, then he was going to do it through Jim.

Once they had successfully made it to the bottom of the stairs he left Jim lying on the ground while he ran up to the kitchen to grab a chair and duct tape. He then carried the chair back downstairs. He placed the chair next to Jim and pulled him up so he was sitting in it. He then proceeded to duct tape him to the chair. He duct taped his wrists, ankles and torso to the chair. Once he was sure that there was no way he could escape he went back upstairs to retrieve Melinda.

"Get out of the car…NOW" He yelled as he approached the car. Melinda was startled and attempted to get out of the car but was too weak. David grabbed her roughly by the arm and lifted her into his arms. He carried her bridal style back into the house and down to the basement. Once back downstairs he chained Melinda back up to the hook in the middle of the room. "I'll be right back." He told her as he walked up the stairs. Melinda instantly looked over at Jim, another tear streaked down her cheek when she saw him. She had waited so long for him to come to her rescue, and now here he was, knocked out and tied up, her worst nightmare has come true…

…

"_**I know you are babe, I am too, but listen to me…I will keep you safe. No matter what it takes, they will have to go through me in order to get to you." Jim swore to her, "I will keep you safe, Mel I promise!" **_

"_**That's what scares me…" Mel whispered.**_

_**Jim had a confused look on his face, "What scared you?"**_

"_**I don't want anything to happen to you, if you were to get hurt trying to protect me…" Mel looked down, "I don't think I would be able to handle it." **_

_**Jim moved so he was now sitting down in front of her, he gently put his hand on her chin and pulled her head back so she was looking at him, "Mel, I would rather die a thousand times then to see you hurt once. If I were to know that something happened to you because I didn't protect you, I think I would fall apart inside. Mel I will protect you, if something happens to me, then I am ok with that, as long as you are safe."**_

_**Mel simply stared into his blue eyes as a tear made its way down her cheek. **_

_**Jim wiped it away, "Hey, I'm going to be ok babe, we're going to be ok…nothing is going to happen."**_

"_**But what if it does?"**_

"_**Well then, we'll be ready for it…and we'll fight it together." **_

His last words echoed in her mind…_we'll fight it together….together…_She knew that if they were going to get out of here then it was going to take both of them.

Just then she heard David walk down the stairs, she instantly turned and looked at him, she was surprised to see him carrying a plate of what looked to be food. She eyed him cautiously as he set the food down and walked back upstairs. "I'll be back when he wakes up!" He yelled over his shoulder as he slammed the door shut behind him. Melinda instantly scooted her way over to Jim, she placed her hands on his leg and gently shook him.

"Jim!" She whispered as she shook him. "Jim, baby please wake up!" But it was no use, Jim didn't even stir, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't wake him. "Jim baby please I need you!" She cried. Suddenly she felt a shooting pain in her stomach. She doubled over in pain and placed her handcuffed hands over her stomach. She cried out in fear, she had feared for a while now that there was something wrong with her baby. She hadn't felt it move since the knife attack, and now she was really terrified. "J-Jim!" Melinda cried out again. But Jim still didn't move. Melinda knew that if her baby had any hope of surviving then she needed to eat something. So she cautiously drug herself over to where the food was and eyed it hesitantly before eating it. After she had finished her as much of the meal as she could, she slowly crawled back over to where Jim was, she her head in his lap. She tried to fight the tiredness that was sweeping over her but she eventually surrendered and drifted off to sleep.

An hour later…

Jim slowly began to regain consciousness, he was confused and disoriented. He had no idea where he was or why he had a splitting headache. The last thing he remembered was…was…Melinda. Then it all flooded back to him, finding Melinda, trying to rescue her, then everything goes black. He tried to lift his arm to ease the pounding in his head but couldn't. He looked down at his arm and noticed that he was duct taped to a chair. That's when he saw her. Melinda still had her head on his leg as she slept. Jim tried desperately to move free his hand so he could reach her but it was no use. He gently moved his leg back and forth, trying to wake her from her sleep.

"Mel." He whispered as she started to stir. Melinda looked up when she realized Jim was moving. She looked up at him and put her hands on his leg. She wished she could do more but David positioned them just far enough out of reach where she could only reach his legs.

"Jim, you're awake!"

Jim looked down at her bloodied hands on his knee and sighed. "You know…you're more beautiful every time I see you!" Jim whispered to her lovingly as he stared into her eyes.

Melinda's eyes were brimmed with tears threatening to pour over at any second. "I thought I was never going to see you again." She cried as the tears broke loss and rolled down her cheeks.

"Hey, shhh please don't cry, I'm here now." Jim soothed her.

"But now you're in danger, Jim he's gonna hurt you!" Melinda warned him as Jim remembered back to what she told him when she first started having her dreams.

_**A tear slowly rolled down her cheek as she continues, "He got really mad and beat me, then he said that you were never coming to save me. I told him you would and he said fine, then he would find you and bring you to me so I could watch him kill you." **_

_**Jim instantly pulled her back into another hug, only this time he held her tighter then the first time and tried to comfort her, "Hey listen it was only a dream…right?**_

"_**That's the thing, it didn't feel like a dream, it felt more like a vision. It felt like someone was trying to warn me." Mel sighed as another tear trickled down her cheek.**_

Jim shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Babe, I know you're scared, I am too but that isn't going to happen, ok? we will find a way out of this, we always do right." Jim smiled down at her.

Melinda wasn't convinced though, "Jim, you're duct taped to a chair, I'm handcuffed to a chain that it attached to a hook on the floor, unless you have some parade of cops following close behind you or a master plan, I don't think we're going to be able to work our way out of this one." Melinda sighed as she looked down.

"Mel, look at me, please…" Melinda looked up at him and stared deeply into his eyes. "I need you to promise me something." Jim said as he looked at her.

"Anything…" she whispered.

"I need to you promise me that, no matter what happens to me, that you will escape if you get the chance."

"Ji-"

"Mel, I need you to promise me that you will do whatever it takes to get out of here."

"Jim I can't leave you here, I won't." Melinda cried.

"Mel, please, promise me that you will escape if you get the chance. I don't care what he does to me as long as you are safe." Jim said as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Please Mel…"

"I promise."

"I love you Melinda Gordon." Jim smiled down at her.

She couldn't help but smile back up at him, "I love you Jim Clancy."

"There's that smile I love so much. God baby, I was so worried about you. Mel, I'm so sorry. I should have been there that morning. I should have protected you better. I should have found you sooner." Jim took a deep breath before continuing. "When you called me and I heard him hit you, I just about lost it. Then when he hung up after you refused to lie about our love, I thought I had lost you forever. I-I couldn't stand the thought of having to live without you. My life wouldn't be worth living." Jim said as he lowered his head.

Melinda laid her head back on his knee as she sighed deeply. "I don't blame you for any of this Jim, you're here now, that's all that matters to me." She replied as she breathed in his scent.

Suddenly they heard footsteps upstairs. "Jim he's coming!" Melinda whispered fearfully.

"Shhh Mel, it's alright, I'm right here." Jim said as he eyed the door. The door flew open as they both jumped in surprise.

"Awe, look at how pathetic." David slowly strolled down the stairs. "Jim I applaud you," He stated as he started to slowly clap his hands, "I really do, you have her convinced that you love her. That is some act my friend! I don't know how you did it, but I'm impressed." He sneered as he finally neared them.

Melinda tried to scoot closer to Jim but it was useless she was as far as she could go, Jim felt her move and tried to scoot closer to her with no avail. David knelt down next to Melinda and gently stroked her cheek, Melinda knew better then to resist, so she simply clamped her eyes shut as she whimpered. "Melinda and I have been having a lot of fun, haven't we?" He snickered.

Jim's stomach flipped as he saw him touch her. "Don't touch her." He shouted.

David smiled back up at Jim, "Oh Jim, you have some things to learn. Like I can do whatever I want to her and you can't stop me."

"I swear if you lay one hand on her! I will-"

"You'll what Jim? Beat the shit out of me? Oh that's right…you are tied to a chair, you can't!" David mocked as he inched his face closer to Jim's. He then reached down and kissed Melinda hard on the lips.

Jim's fought against his bindings, wishing he could lunge at this bastard and beat the living daylights out of him. "You fucking bastard! LEAVE HER ALONE!" He yelled as he pulled and tugged trying to free himself.

David pulled out of the kiss and looked Jim in the eyes. "She's mine now!" he growled. He then reached down and pulled Melinda off of Jim.

"No! Please where are you taking me! Please I want to stay with him!" Melinda screamed.

"Oh don't worry…I want you to watch." David replied as he pulled her over to the hook. He undid the chain from her handcuffs and attached them to hook itself, giving Melinda only inches to move instead of feet.

He then made his way back over to where Jim was.

"No! What are you going to do? LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she screamed as David continued to walk away from her.

"I'm going to do something I've been dying to do for a while now. I told you Melinda, he doesn't really love you, and I'm going to prove it." David said as he reared back and slammed his fist into Jim's jaw.

"NOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM!" Melinda pleaded.

David spun around and glared at her, "Shut up! Do you want me to bring the knife out again?"

Melinda's face turned pale at the thought of him cutting her again.

"That's what I thought, now shut up and watch!" he yelled as he turned his attention back to Jim.

He beat him mercilessly, Melinda cried hysterically the entire time. She didn't know what to do. But she couldn't watch this any longer.

David hit and kicked Jim over and over again. Jim had blood pouring out of his nose (which Melinda assumed by now was broken), his mouth, from the gash above his eye and in many more places. Jim occasionally yelled out in pain as David continued on. But he tried to be strong for Melinda, he hated that she had to watch this. He did everything he could to now yell out in agony.

When David became tired of using his fists, he pulled out a baseball bat and used that to slam down on Jim's leg. Jim couldn't stop the scream that followed that. Melinda fought desperately against the chains that bound her. She pulled and tugged but couldn't free herself.

The beating continued on for a few more minutes before David had finally had enough. He pulled out the knife from his back pocket and slowly walked around to the back of Jim 's chair. Jim had his head down, with blood trickling out of his mouth, he was sweating heavily and trying to catch his breath. David grabbed a handful of Jim's hair and yanked his head back, exposing his neck. He then held the knife to it and looked up at Melinda. "Time to say goodbye Melinda."

Melinda looked at Jim fearfully, their eyes locked on to each other. Melinda searched his eyes desperately looking for what she should do. Melinda suddenly knew what she had to do, she just hoped it would work. She looked at Jim trying desperately to tell him with her eyes that she knew what to do. Jim saw the determination in his eyes and shook his head in disapproval. Melinda looked into his eyes one last time before speaking, "WAIT!" she yelled, "just wait."

David looked at Melinda, "I…I'm sorry." Melinda stuttered as David got a confused look on his face so Melinda continued on. "I'm…I'm sorry I didn't…s-see it before. But I see it now. He doesn't love me, not like you do." Melinda stuttered as she begged Jim for forgiveness before looking up at David.

Jim shook his head, "Mel, no…"

"Shut up!" David yelled at Jim. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, could his plan of actually worked? "You what?" He asked Melinda as he let go of Jim's hair and walked over to where she was.

"I guess I was too blind to see it before, but I see it now. I-I lo-love you." Melinda almost threw up in disgust but she didn't let him see that. Jim was watching the whole thing and clamped his eyes shut as a tear escaped his eyes. He knew that it wasn't true, that she didn't really love him, that she was only doing this for them.

David bent down next to Melinda and undid the chain that was binding her. He then pulled her into him and kissed her deeply. Melinda wound her hands around his neck as she kissed him back. Melinda felt absolutely disgusted but she had to play along, if they were going to get out of here alive. Jim couldn't stand to watch, she was sacrificing herself for him, for their love. It broke his heart in two, he was the one who was supposed to be saving her, not the other way around. He admired her strength though, after everything that she had been through, she was still fighting for them.

David finally pulled out of the kiss when he needed to breath, "You have no idea how good that sounds coming from your lips." He sighed as he placed his forehead against hers. "I've been waiting for so long to have you in my arms like this!" He smiled down at her.

"Hang on, I need to go finish something," David said as he stood up and walked towards Jim.

Melinda's eyes widened in fear, "NO WAIT! Umm don't kill him."

David turned around and glared at her, "I thought you loved me!" he yelled.

"I do!" Melinda assured him as she quickly thought of what to do, " I love you so much that I can't allow you to kill a man! What if someone finds out and tracks his death back to you? I'm sorry but I can't stand the thought of you rotting in a jail cell." Melinda looked up at him. "Come on let's just leave him down here for now until we figure something else out." Melinda begged.

David looked back at Jim and sighed. "Alright babe, you're probably right. Come on." He said as he lifted her bridal style into his arms.

"Where are we going?"

"You're coming upstairs with me!" he exclaimed as he carried her up the stairs.

Melinda looked back at Jim who hadn't taken his eyes off of her, "I love you!" she mouthed to him.

"I love you too!" he mouthed back before he was engulfed in darkness…

_**Ok let me know what you think! I hope you enjoyed it! **_

_**You guys know what to do next! I won't be able to read any of reviews until I get back…but I'm praying you guys like it! **_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! PRETTY PLEASE!**_


	26. Something's not right?

_**Ok I know that most of you probably hate me right now and never want to read my story again because I haven't written in literally forever! I'm sorry that I've kept you waiting for so long. My life became crazy busy and I simply had no time to write at all. But I'm back, it's summer vacation and I have some time to write again. So I hope you guys are ready because I am! **_

_**This chapter is really short I know but it's just to get everyone back into it. I already have half of the other chapter written and as soon as it's done I'll post it for you guys. My plan is to have the next chapter be a lot longer than this one Again I am so sorry that I kept you guys waiting for so long. **_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter : )**_

Delia and Ned had been waiting at Jim and Melinda's house for roughly 5 hours waiting for any news about their friends. Ned sighed, "Something isn't right."

Delia looked at her son, "What do you mean."

"Jim left 5 hours ago. He called you about 4 hours ago to give you a new address, but we haven't heard from him since. If he found Melinda then he would have called us to say that he had her and are on their way to the hospital. If he didn't find her then he would have called and told us that he reached a dead end. But we haven't heard from him, it shouldn't be taking this long. Mom, I think we need to call the police and tell them what's going on." Ned explained.

"Honey, I'm sure everything is fine. I'll try calling Jim's cell again, maybe he lost service and just didn't call back." Delia picked up her phone and dialed Jim's number again, it went straight to voicemail.

_Hello you've reached Jim Clancy…._

Delia shut her phone.

"See mom, something isn't right. I think something happened." Ned looked at his mom, "I really think we should call Det. Marshal."

"Alright, I think you're right." Delia sighed as she dialed the detective's number Jim had given it to her in case she found something while he was gone.

"_Detective Marshal, who am I speaking to?" _

"Hi Detective Marshal, my name is Delia Banks, I'm close friends with Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy." Delia responded.

"_Hi Delia, what can I do for you?" Det. Marshal asked. _

"Umm ok, well Jim left about 5 hours ago to go find Melinda and he hasn't returned yet. My son and I are worried that something may have happened and that's why he hasn't called us back yet." Delia explained quickly, the more she thought about it the more she believed that he son was in fact correct, something wasn't right.

"_What do you mean he went to look for Melinda? Where did he go?" Detective Marshal was confused, there were no new leads on the case so where could Jim have gone._

"Ok this really isn't going to make any sense right now, but I promise we will explain later, but he went to David Hendrick's house, he is the owner of Hendrick's Steal Company. Jim thinks that he is the man who took Melinda." Delia tried to explain the best she could.

"_Wait….who? Look what is going on here, I've never heard the name David Hendricks." _

"Look I know this makes no sense to you right now, but you are going to have to trust me. Once you find Jim and Melinda we will be able to explain everything but right now something isn't right, I need to you find my friends. " Delia was becoming impatient.

_Detective Marshal sighed, "Alright, what's the address?" _

"Umm I'm not exactly sure, Jim looked it up online then rushed out of here. But he called me with a new address about 4 hours ago and said that he was going there because that's where he thinks Melinda is since she wasn't at the house."

"_So you have absolutely no idea where they are then?" _

"I can give you the original address and I believe that if you go there, you will find the next address that Jim went to." Delia explained frantically.

"_Ok I'll send my men over, what's the address?" _ Detective Marshal asked.

Delia gave him the address and thanked the detective before she hung up the phone and started pacing once again. Ned sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands, this was going to be a long night.

Jim's eyes have long since become adjusted to the light since he was left down in the basement while that lunatic took his wife upstairs with him. He had no idea how long it had been since Damon took her away from him but he knew it had to be at least a few hours. He couldn't believe that she did what she did. After all that she has been through it amazed him that she still found the strength and the courage to fight for them. She was so weak already, Jim knew that he had to think of a way to get both of them out of there quick, before it was too late. Jim took a second to evaluate his own injuries. His legs were badly bruised but he was lucky because they didn't feel broken. He was sure that once he was free that he would be able to walk on them, even though it would be extremely painful. His nose was definitely broken, but luckily for Jim that seemed to be the only thing that was. Everything else was simple cuts and bruises that would take time to heal, but were not life threatening. He had lost a decent amount of blood during the beating but again nothing that would keep him from defending himself when the time comes.

Once he was done assessing himself, he quickly began to assess his surroundings. Looking frantically for a way to free himself. He shivered at the thought of Melinda being down her by herself for as long as she was. It was freezing cold, extremely dirty, it smelled rancid and it was eerie dark. Jim sighed in frustration; he could see no possible way of him escaping.

Suddenly he heard a blood curdling scream come from upstairs…"Melinda!" Jim yelled! He began thrashing around, trying frantically to free himself, he had to get upstairs and fast, something was wrong. "MELINDAAAAAAAA!"

Upstairs Damon had laid Melinda down on his bed in order to make her comfortable. He laid next to her and was rubbing her head lovingly. He noticed that she seemed to have a fever but didn't think anything of it. He slowly began to fall asleep until he was finally resting peacefully next to Melinda.

Melinda had remained awake the entire time. Hoping that he would fall asleep and that would give her enough time to free Jim and get both of them out of here alive. Once Damon finally fell asleep Melinda started to make her move. But she could barely move. She was far too weak from all of the blood loss and beatings to even try and make it down the stairs and escape. Her body had enough and was starting to shut down, she could feel it. She started to notice that it was becoming colder and colder. She didn't know what else she could possibly do. She simply laid there and cried until she finally fell into a fitful sleep.

At around midnight that night Damon was woken up abruptly but a blood curdling scream. He turned and looked next to him and noticed that Melinda was drenched in sweat and shaking violently. He started to panic and didn't know what to do. He couldn't take her to the hospital, everyone knows she's missing, it's all over the news. As soon as he took her in they would take her away from him. He could try the "I found her" routine but that never works, as soon as she was coherent she would tell them the truth. But he knew that if she stayed here that she would die. He knew he had to do something and fast. Damon suddenly knew what he had to do, he scooped Melinda up in his arms and ran as fast as he could.

_**Short chapter I know but a lot will happen in the next 2 chapters. Please review and let me know what you think **_

_**By the way I already have the next chapter written and will post it sometime next week! **_


	27. Fight for survival

**First off let me start by apologizing for not updating in a long time. But this summer my grandfather died and it has been extremely rough on the family so updating wasn't exactly on the top of my priority list. Secondly I want to thank each and every reader who has stuck with me through this entire story. I haven't exactly made it easy on anyone since it normally takes me a long time to update. Don't worry the story isn't over yet. There is still a lot of story left. But I will say this….THIS CHAPTER IS HUGE! I hope you enjoy. Yes I have had the majority of this chapter written for a long time but I didn't like how it was written. I have tweaked and fixed and changed things multiple times and I believe that I finally figured it out and I am satisfied with how this chapter turned out. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do and review when you are done! Again thank you and I hope this chapter was worth the wait!**

"MELINDAAAAAAA! Jim yelled out!

He was completely frantic, something wasn't right. He had never heard Melinda scream like that. She sounded like she was in so much pain. He had to get to her but he didn't know how. He struggled with the tape that kept him bound to the chair; he had to find a way to get out of here. He pulled and tugged with his arms trying to rip the tape that was keeping him confined. He tried to stand up, tried to move any way he could but it was no use, he couldn't free himself. David used so much tape that it was impossible for him to move let alone try and escape, but that didn't mean he was going to give up. He would fight his bindings all night if it meant there was a way to free himself and get up to where Melinda was.

…...

David was holding onto Melinda as tight as he could while he ran through the house. He could tell something was wrong. He couldn't get her to wake up and her body was drenched in sweat and hot to the touch. He knew she wasn't dead yet because she was trembling in his arms. This was his fault, he never should have hit her, if only she would have listened in the beginning then she wouldn't look so broken in his arms. Why did it take her so long to see? He knew that he never should have hurt her, but it made him so angry that she wouldn't love him; he didn't know what else he could have done. This was his fault, he was the reason that he could lose her forever…No this was her fault! She is the one who refused to listen to her heart. She was the one who was in denial about who she loved. She is the one who tried to kill me with the knife. She deserved everything I did to her. If she dies then I did everything I could to make her happy, to make her love me. If she dies then it will be her fault.

…

"Melinda!" It was driving Jim insane sitting down in this basement tied up while she was up there with David. He was fuming mad; he knew there was a pretty good chance that David struck her. Her body was so weak already. She couldn't handle any more abuse; it could kill her...

"MELLLLL!" A tear sprung to his eye as he thought of the possibility that he may lose her. She had been through more than anyone should ever have to go through in a lifetime, and she went through it all in 3 days. Jim knew he had to get her out of here.

"I'm so sorry…." She didn't deserve any of this. It was because of Jim that she was taken, because of him that she was hurt, because of him that she was with David right now. He should have done something when they first ran into Damon. He should have called the cops, told them what happened, had them be on the lookout for him, then maybe he wouldn't have taken her. He should have been there that morning, why didn't he listen to her when she tried to warn him? Why didn't he take what she said more seriously? He had everything! The perfect life with the perfect wife and he took it all for granted and now he may lose it all. He may lose the most important person in his life. If he loses her then he knows that he would lose his reason to live. That without Melinda there was no Jim. Because he knows that he could never live without her. He was the reason this whole thing started, now he needed to be the reason that it ended. He didn't care what it took or what he had to do, he was going to find a way to get her home.

Suddenly the door swung open. David stood in the doorway holding what looked like a lifeless Melinda. Jim caught his breath, it felt as if his heart had stopped beating and his stomach was now in his throat. He could feel the life draining out of him as David quickly descended the stairs and laid Melinda on the cold hard floor.

"Mel? Melinda!" When she didn't answer Jim just about lost it. "You bastard! What the hell did you-ou do to her?" Jim's voice broke as he yelled when he saw how pale his wife looked. Her breathing was shallow and she was covered in sweat. He was straining against his restraints trying frantically to free himself so he could help her. "Untie me! I can help her!"

"Shut up I didn't do anything. I woke up and she was like this." David replied as he gently moved a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Don't touch her! Don't you DARE touch her!" Jim was outraged, Melinda was lying in front of him on the concrete floor, possibly dying and he was helpless to do anything to help her. "Leave your hands off of my wife! I swear to God, you will pay for all-"

"You're wife? Correct me if I'm wrong Jim, but I do believe that she chose me." David lashed back. "Get the hint you stupid fool! Melinda doesn't love you anymore!"

Jim glared at David, he knew the only reason Melinda picked David over him was to save him, but David didn't know that.

"Look Jim, I'm not here to fight with you right now, as much as I would love to put a bullet in your brain, I can't do that. I need you. I know you are a doctor. I can't take Melinda to the hospital because they will take her away from me forever and I won't let that happen. But I know that if I leave her here untreated she will die. I need you to help her." David looked at Jim frantically.

Jim looked down at Melinda and let a single tear fall slowly down his face, "Untie me…." His voice was full of hurt and despair. He needed to help her, he needed to save her.

"I will, but don't try any funny business Jim," David said as he pulled a gun out of the back of his pants. "You try to do anything and I will kill you on the spot."

Jim nodded in agreement. He knew that he had to do something to escape but now wasn't the time. He needed to help Melinda first.

David walked over and grabbed the handcuffs and the chain that were on the ground. He walked over to Jim and attached one handcuff to his wrist and made sure the other end was securely attached to the chain. That way David was sure that Jim couldn't escape, he could still help Melinda because he still had full use of both of his hands but he was still under David's control.

"What are you doing? I can't help her like this!" Jim yelled. "Take these handcuffs off, I won't try to escape, I promise you!"

"No you will save her like that. I'm not an idiot Jim. You may not run now, but as soon as you can you will try to overpower me and save your beloved Melinda. You will save her like that!" David said as he walked behind him and used a knife to start cutting the tape that was binding him. Once Jim was free David put the gun to the back of his head before Jim could even move. "What are you doing?" Jim asked. "I need to help her."

"Remember Jim, no funny business!" David growled. "I know Melinda asked me not to, but I will kill you if I have to."

Jim's eyes were locked onto Melinda. "I promise, no funny business," Jim replied. "Please, let me help her," he begged.

David slowly lowered the gun and allowed Jim to work. Jim instantly rushed over to where Melinda was laying. "God baby, what happened?" He quietly asked himself as he began to assess her condition. He started by searching for her pulse, he began to panic when he realized how weak it was. Melinda had been through so much these past 3 days, even though her heart was still fighting, her body was giving up. It was simply too much for one person to endure. Jim then reached up and felt her forehead to see if she had a temperature, and was shocked by how hot she felt. She was literally burning up, with what he suspected to be at least 104 degree temperature and rising. He began to look over her body. It took his breath away, the cuts were filled with dirt and blood, and were becoming infected. The majority of her body was covered in dark purple and blue bruises. He suspected that her wrist was possibly broken based on the odd angle it was sitting at. Her hands felt like ice and she was sweating profusely. He knew he had to get her to a hospital immediately or he would lose her forever. He didn't know how, but somehow he had to get her out of here.

"I need you to get me 2 buckets of warm water, as many cloths or towels as you can find, a pillow and a blanket." Jim wasted no time, he started telling Damon everything he needed. "I also need a thermometer, and Qtips if you have any. Then any form of bandage you can find, I don't care what kind just bring as many as you can. I also need a cold compress or anything you have that is frozen."

David just stood there staring at Jim for a minute, he wasn't sure if he should leave or not.

Jim turned around and glared at David. "I need them now!"

David didn't budge, he wasn't sure if it was a trick or not.

"What are you waiting for? I thought you wanted me to help her?" Jim yelled. "She will die if I don't do something!"

David knew that he couldn't let that happen. "I'll see what I can find." He said as he ran up the stairs taking them 2 at a time.

Jim focused his attention back on Melinda. "Mel, baby I need you to wake up for me. Come on sweetheart I need you to open your eyes. Please?" Jim needed Melinda to wake up to see what hurt, what she was feeling, what he needed to focus on. "Open your eyes Melinda! I need you to wake up! Come on babe open those eyes." Jim shook her gently, being careful not to hurt her. Melinda slowly began to wake up. "There you go! That's it! Open your eyes for me babe. Come on Mel. It's Jim, open your eyes."

Melinda's eyes slowly fluttered open, they looked weak and tired. "Jim…" She whispered.

"Hey baby." Jim smiled at her as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Jim…ahhhh." Melinda cried as a shooting pain shot through her stomach. "It hurts."

Jim reached up and cupped her face with one hand while the other grabbed her hand and held it tight. "What hurts baby? Tell me where the pain it."

"My stomach…Jim I'm scared." Melinda cried. "It hurts so bad. Something is wrong…" Melinda grimaced as another wave of pain hit her.

"Shhhh baby, I'm going to try and fix it ok. Just relax." Jim stroked her head as he looked up the stairs to where David went. How was he going to get her out of here? He looked down to the angel he was holding in his arms. That is what she was, his angel. She brought so much light to his life, so much love and happiness! She truly was an angel. Suddenly he noticed that Melinda was starting to fall back asleep again. "No, no, no, Mel I need you to stay awake for me. Honey, open your eyes. Come on Mel, stay with me."

Melinda looked up at Jim, "But I'm so tired."

"I know Mel, but I need you to keep your eyes open ok. Look at me, focus on me." Jim knew that he needed to keep her awake.

"Jim, I love you." Melinda said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I love you too baby. But you need to stay awake ok." Jim was crying now too. He knew she was getting weaker by the minute.

"Jim, I'm sorry." Melinda took a shaky breath before continuing. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. I tried to fight, but I don't think I can anymore." Melinda said as her eyes began to close again.

Jim knew he was losing her. "No Melinda! You were so strong. Honey I am so proud of you! You are so much stronger than anyone else I know! You fought for so long! Melinda don't you dare give up on me! You need to fight a little bit longer. Honey hold on, I will get you out of here!"

"Jim, I'm so cold." Melinda shivered. "I'm so tired…"

Jim laid down next to her, as close as he could, and wrapped his arm around her. It was the only way that he could keep her warm. He would have given her his jacket but he couldn't since his arm was chained. "Shhhh baby, I got you. Nothing else will hurt you."

Melinda slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep, not sure if she would ever wake again, but she couldn't fight it any more. She was so tired.

….

David was upstairs trying to remember everything that Jim needed him to get. All that was left to get was the cold compress, which all he had were frozen peas but that would have to do, and the Qtips. David ran as fast as he could into his bathroom and grabbed the whole box, then ran back into the kitchen where he was able to grab the peas and everything else Jim needed. There was too much there to carry everything in one trip so David grabbed as much as he could and slowly made his way back to the basement.

When he made it back to the top of the stairs he stopped dead in his tracks. There was Jim holding Melinda so close to his body, laying with her, holding her, kissing her head. "What are you doing?" David yelled from the top of the stairs.

Jim slowly sat up from where he was laying, being careful not to hurt Melinda, "I'm holding my wife!" Jim yelled as he looked right at David.

"You have no right! She is mine! She chose me! She doesn't love you anymore remember!" David started down the stairs, heading straight for Jim.

"She is my wife, and no matter what you think she will always love me!" Jim said proudly!

David set everything he had in his hands on the concrete floor then pulled out his gun. He pointed it straight at Jim's leg and pulled the trigger.

Jim clutched his leg as he yelled out in agony.

"I'm going to make this extremely clear for you Jim." David growled, "Melinda loves me, not you. She isn't yours anymore! She is mine! So either you accept the fact that she no longer loves you, and you help us. Or you can chose to be in denial and believe that she still loves you, which at that point I will kill you." David said as he pointed the gun at Jim's head, "So, which is it going to be?"

Jim struggled to catch his breath, he looked over at Melinda lying on the floor. He knew that she still loved him but he also knew that there was no way in hell he would allow himself to die and leave Melinda alone forever with this lunatic. Melinda would die if he didn't help her so for right now even though it would be hard he must pretend like she doesn't love him. "Alright, Alright, I'm sorry. You're right, she loves you, not me. It's just that she has loved me for so long that it will take some time for me to realize that she is yours now and not mine." Jim paused for a second while his leg throbbed in pain. "I'm sorry if offended you, I meant nothing by it. Just put the gun down so I can save her. Please."

"That's better. I don't want to hear anything else about how she belongs to you, understood?" David asked, still pointing the gun at Jim's head.

Jim nodded, "Understood."

"Good." David said as he lowered the gun and grabbed the materials Jim asked for and brought them over to Melinda, "Now save her!"

Jim looked at everything he had in front of him, he looked back at David when he realized there was things missing.

"There is still more upstairs, I couldn't carry it all, I'll be right back." David yelled over his shoulder and he ran back upstairs.

Jim wasted no time. He took one of the towels that were laying in front of him and ripped it down the middle. He then wrapped it around his leg and tightened it as tight as he could. "Ahhhhhhhh!" He yelled in agony. He was breathing heavily and it took him a few breaths to calm himself down. Once he tied the towel in a knot and was sure that it would not come untied he focused his attention on Melinda.

David had made it back downstairs with the rest of the stuff that Jim asked for and laid them out in front of him as well. Jim grabbed the pillow first and lifted Melinda's head and set the pillow under it to make her more comfortable. He grabbed the thermometer that was next to him and placed it under Melinda's tongue and waited for the reading. He watched in horror as the red line continued to creep up until it finally stopped at 107 degrees Fahrenheit. That temperature could kill her or cause serious brain damage, so he grabbed the package of peas and placed that on her forehead. He hoped that the cold compress would help bring her fever down, or at least maintain it so it didn't get any worse. Then he set off to work on the rest of her injuries.

He pulled the two buckets closer to Melinda and used one bucket of warm water as a clean bucket and the other bucket as the dirty bucket. He grabbed a towel and dipped it in the clean bucket and gently began to clean Melinda's infected wounds. He then dipped the towel in the dirty bucket to try and clean it off as much as he could before dipping it back in the clean water to start all over again. He knew that he could only use clean water to clean her up with otherwise it could cause the infection to get worse and spread quicker.

Jim worked as fast as he could, he knew that his time was short. Melinda whimpered when Jim touched one of her cuts. "I know honey, I know it hurts, but I need to clean this out." Jim soothed her as he continued to work. He grabbed the Qtips and started to clean the deep cut with those. Since a towel couldn't clean all of the wound because it was so deep, he needed something smaller to work down deep and get everything out. Once he was sure that her wounds were cleaned as much as he could he began to use the bandages to cover them up. It was pretty but it was all he could do right now. It wouldn't save her life but it would buy her some time.

Once all of her cuts and abrasions were cleaned out Jim moved on to her other injuries. He gently picked up her wrist and began to examine it. He tried to move it but when he did Melinda writhed in agony and whimpered in pain as a tear escaped and slowly rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry honey, I hear you, I won't do that again. I just needed to look at it." Jim said lovingly as he wiped the tear away.

David tensed up when he saw this, Jim knew that he probably struck a nerve by talking to her that way and reacted fast. "Look, she still loves you, I just did that because I would do it for any of my patients." Jim said as he looked back at David. David nodded in understanding and allowed him to continue.

Jim carefully squeezed Melinda's wrist with his fingers. He needed to see how bad the break was. He was able to feel the jagged piece of one bone and realized that her wrist was possibly broken in half. Jim looked at Damon, "I need you to get me some magazines, the thicker the better and tape. I need to stabilize her wrist." David nodded and took off back up the stairs.

Jim lovingly rubbed Melinda's cheek and moved a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Hang on baby, I'm going to find a way to get you out of her," He whispered into her ear.

David ran back down the stairs with a couple of magazines and duct tape, "This is all I have." He said as he set the stack down next to Jim. Jim grabbed the thickest one there and got to work. He gently picked Melinda's wrist up again and laid it in the middle of the magazine; he then wrapped the magazine in a circle and taped it as tight as he could, but not too tight where it would hurt her. He needed to make sure that it held her wrist in place. He then ran the tape up her arm a little bit and also over her hand to make sure that it would stay in place and not slip off.

Jim grabbed the thermometer again and rechecked her fever. It hadn't gone down any yet but at least it hadn't gone up yet either. Jim then moved to her stomach, he needed to check on the baby. He gently pushed on her stomach to see where it was tender and where it hurt. As soon he touched her stomach Melinda's eyes shot open as she yelled out in pain. "Shhhhhhhh, shhhhh it's ok Mel, I know it hurts but I need to check it out." Jim soothed.

Melinda was crying when she spoke, "Jim, it hurts. I-I think I'm goi-ing to be sick." Melinda said as she started to heave.

Jim quickly and gently rolled her onto her side as she threw up. Both Jim and David were horrified to see that she threw up straight blood. Melinda didn't see it right away and Jim wanted to make sure that she never did. He quickly laid her back down on her back when she was done and threw a towel over the blood. "Shhhh Mel it's ok. You're going to be ok." Jim tried to reassure her even though he wasn't sure himself. Melinda slowly started to lose consciousness again, Jim tried frantically to keep her awake but it was no use. Melinda passed out again and was unresponsive to anything Jim did to try and wake her back up.

Jim turned to David, "We need to get her to a hospital immediately!" Jim said frantically.

"No!" David said flatly. "You are a paramedic you can keep her alive."

"No? No? I thought you loved her? She will die if she doesn't get to a hospital now!" Jim yelled as tears welled up in his eyes. He knew he was losing her, that if he didn't do something now that she would be gone forever.

"I do love her but I can't take her to a hospital, I will lose her forever if I did. They will take her away from me and never let me see her again. No, I can't let that happen. You will save her."

"I can't save her! She needs surgery and a doctor and a hospital where it is a clean environment, not this hell that you have kept her locked up in for the past 2 days! She needs to go to a hospital! She won't live if we don't take her to one now!" Jim didn't know what else to do, he knew that she needed more help then what he could give her. He knew that she needed surgery. He knew that she needed a doctor. He had to keep fighting for her. "You saw all the blood that she just threw up, you saw all the dirt and grime that I cleaned out of her wounds, you saw how much pain she was in. Look around you! Look at what you have done to her! It is your fault that she is in the basement and your fault that she is dying! If you really do love her as much as you say you do then do something right by her! Give her the help she needs! Save her life!"

"This isn't my fault! It is her fault! She is the one who refused to love me! She is the one who fought me the entire time!" David was outraged. "She wouldn't accept that you didn't love her, the only way I could make her understand was to teach her that I was the boss! So don't you dare blame this on me! It is her fault! And don't question how much I love her! I love her more than you ever did!"

"Don't you think that maybe the reason she fought you the entire time was because she didn't love you! She loved me! She was happy and perfect and now look at her! Look at her and tell me you don't see what you have done! You destroyed her! She will never be the same again! You have forever scared her life!" Jim had tears pouring out now and he made no move to wipe them away. "I don't know what kind of sick lunatic takes someone who is so perfect and beats them and does the things you have done to her! I don't know what kind of person then thinks that it is ok, that they did nothing wrong! What kind of monster are you? Look at her! DAMN-IT LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! LOOK AT MY WIFE AND TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T SEE HOW MUCH YOU HURT HER! HOW YOU POSSIBLY KILLED HER!" Jim was yelling now.

"You think I don't see it? That I don't know that it was my hands that caused her pain? I know that I'm the one that hurt her but it had to be done. She needed to learn to listen to me. She needed to learn that I was right and she was wrong. She simply wouldn't listen. So I had to do it! Now you need to save her." David yelled.

"I can't! I have done everything I can! I can't save her!" Jim cried, he knew that there was nothing else he could do. She needed a hospital, she needed medication and morphine, she needed so much more then he could give her while down here.

"But you are a doctor! Save her!" David screamed.

"I CAN'T! I can't save her here! I need to get her to a hospital." Jim couldn't believe that David didn't understand that.

"I can't lose her." David cried as he fell to his knees. "I can't take her to the hospital because I will lose her. She finally realized how she feels about me, I can't lose her after I just got her. She is my love! I can't imagine my life without her in it! I need her to be ok because I can't stand the thought of losing her!"

Jim was becoming more and more enraged; she wasn't David's to lose. She was his wife, his love, his life! Jim couldn't take it any more without even thinking he lunged at David, he tackled him around the waist and both men fell to the ground. David still had the gun in his hand and fired it but the shot just missed Jim's right arm. David was completely shocked by Jim's sudden attack and couldn't defend himself. He ended up lying flat on his back with Jim on top of him. David had somehow managed to maintain his grip on the gun though, but Jim was quick, he grabbed his hand and slammed it onto the ground. David yelled in agony as the gun flew from his hand and slid out of both men's reach.

Jim forgot that he was still tied up though. Jim had reached the end of the chain and only had one hand to fight with. David used this to his advantage and scooted out of Jim's reach. He then lunged at Jim, he threw him on his back and punched him mercilessly in the face. Jim tried to defend himself but David was throwing punches so quickly that it was hard to. David then reached down and slammed his fist into Jim's leg. Jim yelled out in agony as he started to see white spots from the pain. David then grabbed Jim with both hands around the throat and began to choke him. David smiled when he saw how much Jim was struggling to breath. He knew that he had won. That there was nothing that Jim could do. That he was finally going to take Jim out of Melinda's life. She would understand why he had to do it when he told her that Jim attacked him. She would understand.

Jim knew he was in trouble. David had him pinned down and Jim was getting weaker and weaker from the lack of oxygen. He knew he had do think fast and do something but it was hard to do when he couldn't breathe or think straight. He used whatever strength he had left and swung as fast and as hard as he possibly could. He managed to punch David right in the jaw, it caught him off guard and David released his grip on Jim for a split second. But that was all Jim needed. He took his chance and threw David off of him. Luckily for Jim David fell closer to the hook rather than farther away from it so Jim was able to maneuver and fight better without restrictions.

Jim wasted no time, he got on top began to hit David repeatedly over and over again. He couldn't stop the memories that were rushing through his head, all of the pain that Melinda had endured in the past 3 days were replaying over and over again. He hit David square in the face repeatedly, again and again and again and again. Jim then grabbed the chain that was attached to his wrist and wrapped it around David's throat; he tightened it as tight as he could, cutting off David's air supply. David instinctively reached up and clawed at the chain, trying to find some way to loosen it and get Jim off of him. He couldn't breathe and was starting to see spots from the lack of oxygen. Jim knew that he should let go of the chain and let this man live but then all of the memories of what happened to Melinda started replaying in his mind again, memories of what HE did to her, and he simply couldn't stop himself. He simply pulled harder and harder, he watched this monster die before him, knowing that it was his hands that were causing David's death. He did it out of anger, for what David did to Melinda. Out of grief, that the love of his life was laying there on the brink of death. Out of frustration, that he couldn't find her in time to save her from all the pain she endured. Before he knew it David slumped down before him, dead. Jim quickly dropped the chains, and simply stared at Damon. He had just killed a man.

Jim wasted no time though, he searched David's dead body for the keys to the handcuffs. When he finally found them he quickly freed himself and crawled back over to where Melinda was. He mustered up all the strength he had left and instinctively scooped her up into his arms. He took a moment and held her close to his body. He was afraid that he would never get to hold her again. He knew that he needed to get her out of here as soon as possible but he couldn't help but sit there and hold her, just for a minute. If this was the last time he ever held his wife then he was going to soak up every second of the moment they had together.

"Hang on baby, I'm going to get you out of here." He whispered to her and he gently kissed the top of her head.

**Like I said above, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please review and tell me how it turned out. I would really appreciate it! You know what to do now : ) **


	28. She needs help!

_**Ok guys here it is! The next chapter of Taken! It's another long one (almost 6,000 words!) since you had to wait a while again for an update. But school's been crazy and so has life. Anyways here it is! I hope you like it! Also I wrote this chapter and checked it over for any mistakes but if I missed any (which I always seem to do) then I am sorry. **_

Detective Marshal and his men were on their way to the location Delia had given them, they had no idea what they would find there but they knew that it was worth a shot. Even though Detective Marshal had only known Jim for a few days now, he had learned a lot about him. He could tell from the moment that he met him that Jim would do anything to find his wife. It didn't matter if it would put himself in harm's way, Jim Clancy was going to find his wife one way or another. In 3 days, Detective Marshal learned that Jim and Melinda had a love that most would only dream of. He saw it in their house, he saw it in the way Jim talked about his wife, and he also saw it in Jim's eyes. There was something special there that no one, not even some lunatic, would be able to destroy. On a normal day, with a normal case, the detective wouldn't have rushed out of his office the way he did. He wouldn't have called all of his men and told them to get ready because they were leaving in 5 minutes. On a normal day he would have waited to see how things played out. He would have given the husband time to realize that he found nothing and that he wasn't the police department. In time, the husband always returned to his office, defeated and pleading for them to help and do more. But this wasn't a normal day, this wasn't a normal case and these were not normal people. There was something different about Jim Clancy, something that was admirable and quite frankly not something that you see every day. Detective Marshal knew that today was the day they were going to find Melinda Gordon, the day that they were going to bring her back to her husband and friends and family. The one thing that was different about today though, Detective Marshal knew that Jim Clancy was going to keep his word to his wife. Jim Clancy was going to be the one who saved his wife, was going to bring her out of the hell she was trapped in and bring her home to everyone that loved her. He just hoped that they weren't too late. He hoped that Jim was able to find her in time and that even after everything that she had been through, that she would be ok. He knew it was a long shot but he couldn't help but hope, their love was too strong to not believe that this was going to end with happy ending.

… … … … … … … …

Jim had no idea how he was going to get the two of them out of here but he knew that one way or another they would. Melinda was so weak, he needed to get her to a hospital immediately. Jim was still holding Melinda close to him, he was afraid that if he let her go that he would never get the chance to hold her again. It scared him to realize how close he is to losing her forever. Her condition was worsening by the second. He knew that he didn't have much time.

Jim moved slowly, trying to be as careful with her as he could. Holding her close to his body, Jim moved to stand up. He was shocked when a jolt of pain pulsated from his gunshot wound and sent him crumpling to the ground. Luckily he was able to turn his body so that way he didn't fall on top of Melinda and hurt her even more then she already was. He cushioned her fall as much as he could and somehow she made a relatively soft landing. Jim grabbed his leg in agony and looked to his wife, he let a tear slowly escape. He knew that if he couldn't get her up the stairs then she would die here. He could not, would not, let that happen. He quickly reassessed her condition, he grabbed the thermometer and placed it in her mouth. Luckily her temperature seemed to stay steady at 107 degrees, which was dangerously high to say the least but at least it wasn't climbing. Jim quickly took off his jacket and wrapped her up in it. He didn't want her naked body to be exposed to any more danger. He knew that it would be cold outside and he couldn't risk her becoming more sick then she already was. Once she was wrapped in his jacket he took the blanket that David brought down and wrapped her lower body in that. He then took a deep breath, he knew this was going to hurt but that was nothing compared to the pain he will feel if he loses her. He pulled Melinda back into his arms, holding her bridal style, he took one more deep breath before he slowly began to stand up. "Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh " He yelled out in pain!

… …. … … … … … … …

Detective Marshal and his men made it to the address that Delia gave them. They all took their positions around the perimeter while a few select men made their way to the front door and slowly opened it. They looked around quickly before turning on their flashlights and raising their guns in front of them. They made their way into the house and quickly cleared every single room.

"Clear! There is no one here sir!" One of the men hollered to Detective Marshal.

Detective Marshal scratched his head in confusion, "If no one is here then where is Jim Clancy?" He hollered back.

"Who?" His men thought they were looking for a woman not a man.

"The husband of the woman we are looking for took off about 5 hours ago looking for his wife, his friend said that this is the address he went to. So I will ask again, if there is no one here then where is he?" Detective Marshall explained. "I want everyone to spread out and look for clues that might tell us where he went!" he ordered.

His men fanned out and started looking. They searched the living room, bedrooms, dining room all with no luck. One of his men finally yelled from the kitchen, "Detective! I think I found something that you should come look at!"

Detective Marshal walked into the kitchen and saw the mess on the floor with an address scribbled into it. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure sir, maybe it is where he is at?"

"But who wrote it there and why do it like that? Wouldn't it be easier to simply get a piece of paper? This makes no sense?" Detective Marshal was becoming confused and quite honestly had no idea what was going on let alone what to expect anymore.

"I'm not sure sir, but I will say this; this is the only lead that we have that suggests where he might have gone. I say that we take a risk and go to this address. Who knows we might actually find something."

"Alright, you're right! Let's go men!" Detective Marshal yelled out as he men followed him out of the house. They loaded back up into their vehicles and made their way to the address scribbled on the floor. No one quite knew what to expect. All they knew was that they had no other leads in the case and that it was worth a try.

… … … … … … … … …

"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He yelled out in pain as he finally managed to stand up. Luckily they were close to the wall and Jim was able to lean his back against it all while still holding Melinda in his arms. He took a second to collect himself and catch his breath. He could tell that he was starting to go into shock from the pain but he had to try his best to not let that happen. He looked down for a second to evaluate his leg. There was blood running down his leg and dripping onto the floor but that didn't matter. Jim thought for a second, all he had to do was make it up the stairs, to his truck, and drive Melinda to the hospital. He had to get her out of here. He had to! So Jim slowly began to step forward, one leg at a time. It was a slow and painful process but Jim knew that he couldn't afford to stop. He was breathing heavily and trying to focus on Melinda lying in his arms instead of the pain in his legs.

After a few minutes they finally managed to make it to the stairs. Jim took another moment to rest and catch his breath. His legs were throbbing in pain, the beating took a lot more out of him then he originally thought. They were weak and shaking, he wasn't sure if or how he was going to be able to make it up the stairs and out the door. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get her out of here. He took this time to look down and the beautiful woman he held in his arms. She was still breathing, even though it was shallow and weak. He could see the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She looked lifeless in his arms, and even though he knew she was still alive it scared him. He looked back up the stairs then back at her. "Ok baby! Time to get you out of here!" He said as he kissed her forehead before slowly lifting his leg to the first step. Pain seared through his body but he knew that he couldn't stop. He knew that he had to keep going.

There is a belief that when someone you love is hurting or in trouble that you find a strength that you never knew that you had. The story goes that a child is trapped under a car, his mother is frantically trying to find a way to get him out. She knows that if she doesn't that he will die. So she gets into position and slowly starts to lift the car off of him. She was able to do this unbelievable task because of the love for her son. She wasn't going to let anything happen to him and would do anything to save him. She found the strength of 20 men and was able to save her child. Some would argue that Jim found that strength today and that is how he was able to carry both himself and Melinda up those stairs, others would argue that Jim always had that strength and that it was simply waiting for the right time to present itself to him. No one quite knows how he did it. If you look at the circumstances it seems pretty impossible that a man, who was beaten only 4 hours before hand, who fought for his life and almost died twice, who has been sick with worry for 3 days over his kidnapped wife, who hasn't slept in days. A man, who has been doing everything that he could to find his and bring her back home, and lastly who was shot in the leg. It seems impossible that this man was able to carry his wife up a flight of stairs and out of the house that held her prisoner for so long. How did this man do it? The answer is simple, love. He wasn't going to lose her. Their love gave him the strength he needed. Their love kept her alive through it all and got them out of that house, together!

… … … … … … … … … … …

Jim was covered in sweat he was breathing heavily and felt like he was going to pass out at any minute. Somehow they had made it to his truck, Jim gently laid Melinda down in the front seat. Her head was in the driver seat and her feet with in the passenger seat. He readjusted the blanket making sure that her entire body was covered, then as quickly as his legs would allow him made his way over to the driver seat. He gently lifted her head and slid into the seat, then lovingly laid her head in his lap. The keys were still in the ignition so he quickly started the engine and drove off towards the hospital.

He took a second to look down at Melinda lying next to him. He couldn't help but feel guilty about it all. He gently stroked her head while he talked to her the whole way. Whispering words of comfort to her. Telling her that everything would be ok now that she was safe. That he was here and no one could ever hurt her again. She was going to be ok now. Even though he himself wasn't so sure of the last one.

Jim was driving as fast as he could when he thought he saw something off in the distant. It looked like lights but he couldn't be sure. He had already checked his phone and it still had no service. He needed to call Delia and tell her that he found Melinda. He needed to call the hospital and tell them to get ready because they were coming and his wife needed help. He needed to call Detective Marshal and tell him that he found her. He checked his phone again and still no service. Suddenly he saw it again, the lights off in the distance, only this time they looked closer. He strained his eyes to see what it was, he couldn't tell but it looked like there were a lot of them. As he continued to drive and the lights got closer and closer he couldn't help but get a little ray of hope. Driving towards him were he guessed 5 cop cars and maybe even more. Jim frantically honked his horn and flashed his lights at the cars rushing towards him. He continued to flash them as he pulled over to the side of the road.

… … … … … … … …

"Umm, detective? Are you seeing this?" a young officer asked while he was driving the lead car.

The detective looked up from the map to see a truck flashing its lights and swerving on the road in front of them. "What the hell is that?" He asked.

"I'm not sure sir, what should we do?"

"Slowdown a little bit. Let's see what else he does." The detective said as he watched the truck closely.

"Sir, I think he is pulling over. Should we do the same?" The officer asked. Both officer and detective could hear the driver frantically and repeatedly honking the horn of the vehicle.

The truck in front of them was still flashing its lights at the officers. But now had pulled over to the side of the road.

The detective thought for a moment before finally deciding to investigate this incident further. "Yeah, umm pull over." The detective ordered, never once taking his eyes off the truck. The rest of the cars followed the lead cars example and also pulled over. All the officers got out of the car and got out their guns while taking cover behind their doors. All of the officers pointed their guns straight at the truck, no one knew what could possibly happen next.

Detective Marshal pulled out the megaphone and turned it on before talking into it slowly. "I want you to slowly step out of the vehicle with your hands in the air where we can see them!" His voice bellowed through the air.

Jim looked down at Melinda one last time, "It's going to be ok now Mel, help is here. I'll be right back." He brushed the hair off of her forehead before slowly lifting her head off of his lap and placing it onto the seat after he slid his leg out from underneath her. Jim then slowly opened his door and stepped out of the vehicle with his hands held high over his head.

"That's it, nice and easy. I want you to walk to the front of your truck and place both hands on the hood. We are going to come over to you!" Detective Marshal ordered Jim what to do.

Jim did as he was told and limped to the front of his truck, "Please! We need help! My wife is in there and she is hurt! She needs a hospital! She is dying!" Jim yelled. He knew better then to approach the officers, he knew that if he looked at all threatening that they would have no other option but to open fire on him. So instead he stayed where he was, hands on the hood of the truck, looking over desperately at the bright lights that were shining directly onto him.

Detective Marshal thought that the voice sounded familiar, "Jim?" he asked through the megaphone.

Jim strained to see who was over there. It was hard to distinguish the voice when it was coming at him through a megaphone but he was pretty sure that it sounded like Detective Marshals. "Yes! Detective is that you? Please! My wife! You have to help her!"

Detective Marshall and his men lowered their weapons and the megaphone. The detective was the first one who made it to Jim's side. "Jim!" he yelled as he got closer. "What the hell were you thinking? What happened?"

Jim shook his head, "Look that isn't important right now. I need you to help Melinda, she is in the truck. Detective she is hurt and it is bad! Please she doesn't have much time!" Once Jim in fact saw that it was in fact the detective he hobbled as fast as he could to the passenger side door and opened it.

Detective Marshal was shocked by what he heard "Jim…..you found her?" He asked astonished that Jim was actually able to do it. In all of his years on the force and as a detective, he never had a case where the husband actually found his wife. What he saw next though took his breath away. Laying motionless on the seat was a very beaten woman. She was cut and bruised and didn't look good. He knew that he chances of survival were slim to none, not after that much torture. He looked at Jim for a second before yelling to the ambulance driver that followed them, "I need a medic over here! NOW!"

Jim quickly checked Melinda's vitals one more time while he waited for the paramedics to bring the gurney over.

Jim was relieved when he saw Bobby running towards him. Bobby had no idea what was going on so he knew he was going to be confused but Jim knew that Bobby was the only other man he would trust with Melinda's life.

"Jim?" Bobby asked when he neared his truck. "Man what is going on?"

"It's Mel, Bobby. I need your help!" Jim said she he motioned towards his injured wife laying in his truck.

Bobby was shocked by what he saw. "What the hell happened to her?" Bobby asked. He expected to see Melinda looking perfect as always, not this. She was covered in nasty bruises and cuts all over her body. She was laying there naked with only Jim's jacket and a blanket covering her.

"It's a long story, come on man we need to get her to the hospital." Jim said. Bobby started working quickly to get Melinda out of the truck, onto the gurney. Once Melinda was secured on the gurney, Bobby's partner started to wheel her to the ambulance. Jim tried to follow but almost fell over from the pain in his legs. "Ahhh…." Jim grunted.

"Woah Jim," Bobby said as he caught his friend. "Slow down there man! We need to get you on a gurney, you're hurt."

Jim shook his head, "No….no…." he said through gritted teeth. Please let me stay with her! She needs me. I promised her I wouldn't leave her alone….not….again." Jim was starting to get dizzy, probably from the pain and all the blood he had lost.

Bobby looked down and noticed the amount of blood that was starting to puddle in the grass by Jim's shoe. "No Jim you need as much attention as Melinda does, come on let me get you on a gurney and start working on that leg."

Jim shook his head again and looked directly at his friend. "Bobby, let me ride to the hospital with her. I promise you as soon as we get there then I will go with the doctors and have them take care of my leg, but please don't make me leave her just yet. I need to be with her. I promise I will get it looked at when we are at the hospital. Please, Bobby. She needs me. I can't leave her alone again! Please Bobby, I already left her once and look at what happened. She needs me. I'll have the doctor look at me when I get there. Please man. Don't make me leave her. Bobby, please." Jim rambled on.

Bobby looked at his friend as he struggled to keep him standing upright. "Jim you're delirious and you're not making any sense man. Come on I need to get you to a gurney and you need to lie down."

Jim grabbed Bobby's arm, "Please!" He said it was so much determination.

Bobby took a second to think about it. He knew that when it came to Melinda, that Jim would do anything for her. He knew that he wasn't going to win this battle. He also knew that if they didn't get both Jim and Melinda to the hospital now that they could lose both of them. "Ok! Fine….but as soon as we get to the hospital you are going with the doctors, no matter what. Understood?" Bobby said forcefully.

Jim nodded and looked up to the ambulance. Bobby's partner and another police officer had just made it there and were getting ready to load her into it.

Bobby and Detective Marshal supported Jim's weight as the three of them walked to the ambulance. Every officer there stopped what they were doing and looked at the man walking before them. They had never seen such love and devotion from one single individual before. This man risked his own life, put himself in danger, to bring his wife home. He risked it all and was able to save his wife.

Detective Marshal and Bobby got Jim into the ambulance, Jim sat down next to Melinda and grabbed her hand in his. "Everything is going to be alright now honey, help is here. They are going to make you better." Jim whispered to her. He knew that she could hear him even though she was unresponsive, "Don't worry, I'll be right here the whole time! I will not leave you alone again, I promise!"

"Jim, we need to get her to a hospital," Bobby said as he gently grabbed Jim's arm.

Jim looked at his friend, "Bobby, don't let anything happen to her. Please…. I can't live without her!" Jim's voice broke as he wiped a tear away from his eyes.

Bobby nodded in understanding and grabbed Jim's shoulder, "Don't worry man, she's my family too! I won't let anything happen to her!"

Jim at Detective Marshal, "Detective, can one of your men drive my truck to the hospital?" Jim asked.

The detective held out his hand, "I will personally drive it and see you there." The detective said as he took the keys from Jim.

"Thank you!" Jim said as he tossed his keys to the detective. The doors were shut behind him and soon they were on the road, sirens blaring, heading towards the hospital. Jim sat down quickly and grabbed Melinda's hand. His other hand was gently rubbing her head. Bobby was frantically trying to help Melinda as much as he could. He put an oxygen mask on her face to help her breath better. He then started an IV in her arm to help with her dehydration. He checked her vitals and wrote down as much information as he could. They were a good 30 minutes from the nearest hospital and he knew that those 30 minutes were crucial to her survival. He had been a paramedic for 15 years; he had seen a lot of cases but none like this one. Looking at his friend's wife laying before him, he knew that she had a hard battle in front of her. He knew that the chances of her surviving this were slim. He also knew that if she did survive it that it wouldn't be easy, for her or for Jim. But that didn't mean that he didn't think she would make it. He knew that if anyone could make it out of this alive that it would be Melinda. Like he said before, over the years he had never seen anything this bad, but at the same time, over those years, he had never seen anything like what Melinda and Jim had. It was something that everyone saw but that no one could explain in words. Looking at the two of them it was obvious that they were meant to be together. That God had something big planned for the 2 of them. Jim and Melinda had been through more together in their 3 years of marriage than most people have been through in their whole lives. This couple had been tested over and over again and one thing always stayed the same. They came out of it, alive, together and stronger than ever before. Bobby had a feeling that this was going to be another one of those defining moments in their life. One that everyone else will look at in awe, but that they will look at and smile because it only proves what everyone already knows, that their love is stronger than anything else. Their love will conquer all.

Bobby was still working on Melinda. He was still having a hard time looking at her like this. She was beaten badly and had cuts all over her body. Never in a million years could Bobby have imagined that the outcome of a kidnapping would be this bad. He looked over at his best friend and couldn't help but feel remorse for him. He put a hand on Jim's back and spoke softly, "Jim, she's strong! She won't give up on you! I know Melinda, she will fight with everything that she has until she can come back to you. I know that this looks bad, but she will not leave you. Not if she has a choice in the matter."

Jim looked up at his friend. "Thanks man. It's just hard when I see what he did to her. I know what her odds are, I know that it isn't good. I'm not going to lie, I'm scared. I'm so scared that I'm going to lose her!" Jim hung his head, never once letting go of Melinda's hand.

Bobby kept his hand on Jim's back. "I know man, I know. But if anyone can beat this, she can. I will be here every step of the way. Just let me know if you need anything ok."

Jim nodded and looked up at him, "Thanks Bobby."

Bobby went back to working on Melinda. He took her temperature; it was sitting at a dangerous 106 degrees Fahrenheit. He reached into his bag and pulled out an ice pack, one of the ones that you have to break and shake to activate, and once it is activated then it gets cold. Bobby quickly popped it and started to shake it to activate it. He handed the ice bag to Jim, "Jim, I need you to place this on her forehead and keep it there until we get to the hospital. We need to get her fever down." Jim did as he was told and kept whispering reassuring words to her and to himself. The entire time he was watching everything Bobby was doing, not because he didn't trust Bobby but because he has been Bobby's partner for years and if something is really bad he would be able to tell.

Bobby looked at Melinda then at Jim, "Jim? Did you dress her wounds and brace her wrist?" Bobby was confused. He could tell that someone with medical experience had worked on Melinda already but wasn't sure if that was Jim or her attackers.

"Yeah, umm the man who took her brought her to me when she started to take a turn for the worst. He brought her to me and wanted me to help her. I did everything I could; sadly I don't think it was enough though." Jim explained. He glanced up a Bobby then back at Melinda.

"Jim, what did probably saved her life." Bobby explained. "I know that it at least bought her time, and right now time is what she needs."

Bobby then glanced down at the floor next to Jim's leg, he saw the blood starting to pool on the ground, he knelt down next to Jim, "Jim, I really need to look at your leg."

Jim shook his head, "I'm fine, I want all of your attention on her." Jim never once stopped looking at Melinda. "My leg will be fine, I will have someone work on it when I get to the hospital but right now I want all of your attention on her." Jim now looked at Bobby. Bobby could see the determination in Jim's eyes, but he saw the fear as well. The fear that these may be the last moments he has with his wife. Jim knows how bad it was and knew that her chances of survival were slim. "Please Bobby, I promise I will have someone look at it but right now Melinda needs your help more than I do." Bobby patted Jim's back as he stood up and kept working on Melinda.

"Bobby?" Jim said to get his attention. Bobby looked over at Jim. "When we get to the hospital I know that the doctors are going to force me to go with them because they want to assess my condition as well. Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything Jim, what do you need?" Bobby asked.

"When we get there can you stay with her, I know that you have to get back to work but could you stay with her as long as you can?" Jim looked at his friend. "I don't want her to be left alone. I want her to have a friendly face there in case she wakes up. Bobby the last thing she is going to remember what happened before she passed out. She will be disoriented and confused if she wakes up. I know that I won't be able to be with her right away so will you please stay with her?"

"I will stay with her until you come back man. Don't worry man I'll call the chief and explain everything, he will understand." Bobby said.

Jim nodded, "Thanks man, I'll owe you one." Jim looked back at his wife laying there helplessly on the gurney.

"Hey, like I said earlier, Melinda is family! You are like a brother to me Jim. I promise you I won't leave her until you get back. Alright, I'll take care of her." Bobby said as he placed a hand on Jim's shoulder.

Jim couldn't find the words to say, he simply looked at Bobby and nodded his head gratefully.

They were only 5 minutes from the hospital now. Bobby made the final preparations on Melinda as they finally entered the hospital entrance. The ambulance came to a stop and that is when all the commotion started. The back doors flew open and there were 4 nurses and 2 doctors there to greet them. They quickly pulled Melinda's gurney out of the ambulance and started yelling out commands and what needed to be done. They wasted little to no time. They took all the paperwork from Bobby and one nurse looked it over quickly. Bobby followed behind them shouting out what he had done and what her condition was. He told the hospital staff everything they needed to know. He stayed with her as long the entire time, like he promised Jim he would.

Jim watched them wheel his wife away; he couldn't stop the tear that made it way down his cheek, knowing that he couldn't be with her at the moment. But he knew that the sooner he got his leg looked at the sooner he would be able to get back to her.

Two of the nurses and one of the doctors helped Jim out of the ambulance and onto a gurney. They had been informed that there were two victims and the driver of the ambulance filled them in on everything. They knew that Jim was injured and wasted no time at all. Before anyone could blink both Jim and Melinda were rushed into the hospital. Jim was in one room while Melinda was in another. Bobby sat in the waiting room waiting to hear anything about both of his friends.

… … … … … …

Detective Marshal was driving Jim's truck to the hospital. He instructed his men to still go to the address they found at the initial house they went to that night. He on the other hand was going to go see how Melinda and Jim were doing. On the way there he reached down and dialed Delia's number.

It rang twice before she picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hi this is Detective Marshal, you called earlier regarding Jim Clancy and Melinda Gordon." Detective Marshal explained.

"Yes detective, please tell me you found them!" Delia asked frantically.

"I, I need you to meet me at the hospital ma'am."

Delia gasped, "Why!? What happened! Are they ok?" Ned looked at his mother; the worry was evident on her face. He knew it was bad and quite honestly he was afraid to ask what was going on.

"Please ma'am I'll explain everything when you get here. I'm almost to the hospital now. I'll be waiting in the Emergency Room Waiting Room."

"Ok! We are on our way!" Delia said as she hung up the phone. She wasted no time she grabbed her purse and was out the door. She didn't need to tell Ned to follow her because he was right behind her. He knew it was bad, he didn't need to be told. He closed the door to Jim and Melinda's house. He quickly got into his car and looked over his shoulder one last time at the house, praying that one day soon he would be able to see both Jim and Melinda walk back through that door again.

_**Ok so let me know what you think. The next chapter we will find out how bad both Jim and Melinda's injuries are. **_

_**Please review and let me know what you thought! I would love to hear from everyone! **_


End file.
